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Spoilers for this week’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, because “Part III” introduces a major new player to the Star Wars universe. Okay — I’m not talking about the character, but rather the voice actor. The man in question? None other than Zach Braff.
Yep, Zach Braff is now part of the increasingly less exclusive club of performers to have a role in the Star Wars franchise. The actor — who you definitely remember from Scrubs and Garden State and, I don’t know, Alex, Inc.? — appears in the Obi-Wan Kenobi episode as a friendly trucker on the mining planet of Mapuzo. If you didn’t recognize Braff, you’re probably not alone. That’s because not only was his character a blue collar anteater/pig/mole alien, but Braff was also doing what sounded like his best impression of John Ratzenberger.
In the episode, Obi-Wan and Leia’s mining vessel getaway ship lands on Mapuzo. On their quest to a spaceport, little Leia flags down a ride — and that ride happens to be Freck. Freck seems like a good enough dude. He’s friendly, if a bit blunt, and he certainly doesn’t look threatening. But then Obi-Wan spots the Star Wars equivalent of a “don’t tread on me” bumper sticker and knows that this ain’t gonna go the way he wants it to go.
Freck’s just a good ol’ boy who loves the order that the Empire brings, even if, as Obi-Wan told Leia earlier, that order has completely ravaged Mapuzo and left it a pretty desolate place. Freck ultimately proves to be exactly what Obi-Wan suspected him to be when he delivers the Jedi and his temporary ward to a security checkpoint populated with a bunch of stormtroopers. Thanks, Freck.
This is Braff’s first foray into the Star Wars universe, but it’s not the first time that Braff has incorporated Star Wars into his work. In the Season 1 Scrubs episode “My Two Dads,” Braff’s J.D. has a vision of his two father figures having a lightsaber duel.
Is this the last we’ve seen of Freck and heard of Braff in Obi-Wan Kenobi? Most likely. The end of the episode implies that the show’s time on Mapuzo is over. But you never know — Freck could pop up in a million other places. There are no small parts in Star Wars.
