Red Hot Chilli Peppers bassist Flea’s latest acting role was revealed to be a bounty hunter in new Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which began airing on Disney+ yesterday.
Rumors had been circulating for several weeks that he’d be seen in the show, which stars Ewan McGregor as the Jedi master charged with protecting Luke Skywalker from Darth Vader and the Empire.
In the clips from the opening episode below, Flea is seen as the villain Vect Nokru, who’s been hired to kidnap a young Princess Leia, and appears to have got away with his crime. However, the character’s exit comes before the end of the second episode.
Real name Michael Balzary, Flea has been appearing in movies for nearly as long as he’s been famous as a musician. He’s seen in two Back to the Future movies, The Big Lebowski, My Own Private Idaho, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and many others.
“When something comes up and it’s interesting and I have the time, I’ll do it,” he told Grantland in 2014. “At this point in my life, I have to believe in it to want to do it. It’s not just like, ‘Acting is fun; it’s fun to go play pretend.’ If it’s some people that I respect doing a project that I believe in, then I’m down for it, if time allows. But I’m not out there pursuing acting gigs.”
He added that he found it easy to channel “something that’s way bigger than me” when he played music, explaining: “[A]ll the work that I do as a musician is to get myself into a position so I can… let this thing flow through me. As an actor I’ve always struggled to do that. It’s always been more of a cerebral exercise.”
Watch Flea in ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’
Red Hot Chili Peppers Albums Ranked
Funk rockers have delivered some timeless classics … and a couple of forgettable releases, too.