The best boy band from the worst Star Wars movie
From Chris Snellgrove
| Published
While critics may hate their bobby vibe, NSYNC is arguably the best boy band in the world, especially when you consider the later cultural and musical influence of breakout star Justin Timberlake. Surprisingly, back when NSYNC was in their heyday, these best boy bands appeared in perhaps the worst Star Wars movie. In a 2023 episode Hotthe band confirmed that they would originally be performing in Attack of the Clones but that her cameo was ultimately cut from the film.
Bye, bye, NSYNC in Star Wars
Part of HotThe charm lies in the great questions that host Sean Evans asks, and in this episode he finally asked NSYNC if they were in the second Star Wars prequel. He asked if they were actually playing the Jedi Knights in the film, and Lance Bass pointed out that not the entire band almost made a cameo appearance – just Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Joey Fatone. However, Kirkpatrick was quick to point out the obvious thing about her cameo: “It never made it to the screen.”
NSYNC members Lance Bass and Justin Timberlake recalled their irritation at not receiving the first invitation to appear in the second Star Wars prequel. “Me and Lance were so angry,” Timberlake said. That prompted Bass to give a very even-handed response: “They were cut out anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
NSYNC was so close to Star Wars
The fact that NSYNC almost appeared in a Star Wars movie caused a lot of excitement among fans Community years ago (more on that soon), but even most superfans don’t know how close the boy band came to performing Attack of the Clones. They actually received combat training that would ensure they looked at least somewhat convincing when plunged into the film’s climactic Battle of Geonosis. Joey Fatone sheepishly admitted that the training also sounded convincing because “while we were filming the scenes,” the musicians were “literally ‘voom vooming’ like idiots.”
Interestingly, this was the only reason NSYNC was invited to perform Attack of the Clones First, Star Wars producer Rick McCallum’s daughter was a big fan of the band. The cameo was canceled for two reasons: The first was SAG-AFTRA rules for extras. Joey Fatone later admitted that “usually the SAG rights have to pay for it” and “We just signed a confidential thing – we didn’t say anything about it – but they had to stop us.”
Fatone’s story is a bit fuzzy, but it helps explain why NSYNC didn’t appear in the second Star Wars prequel. Namely, that George Lucas and his team didn’t want any SAG-related drama. However, there was another reason why they were axed, and it was revealed by Fatone’s brother Steve in 2015. Basically it was the band’s performance in Attack of the Clones Rumors had been swirling long before the film came out, and it sparked such backlash from fans that her appearance (complete with Jedi robes and Padawan braids) was canceled altogether.
In hindsight, it was best to kill NSYNC’s Star Wars gig. At this point, the fan base was already affected by the poor quality The Phantom Menace. After that first prequel, there was a lot of speculation about whether George Lucas had lost the creative vision that led him to create this famous galaxy far, far away in the first place. Luckily, Lucas helped say “bye, bye, bye” to this speculation by cutting the band from the film entirely.
Source: People
