Via Cnet.com:

Appearing in a Star Wars movie sounds like a dream come true for any actor. But nothing would crush that dream faster than discovering your journey to a galaxy far, far away ended on the cutting-room floor.

That’s what happened to Bai Ling, who was left out of the third prequel, 2005’s “Revenge of the Sith”. As we wind down our special report marking Star Wars’ 40th anniversary, we asked her how that felt — and whether she still thinks director George Lucas cut her because of a Star Wars-themed photo shoot, a theory widely covered by the media at the time but denied by Lucas.

Growing up in communist China, Bai hadn’t seen Lucas’ legendary sci-fi series before coming to the US in the 1990s. She first realised the scale of the Star Wars phenomenon when she saw a huge line of fans waiting to see one of the newly released prequels, which just happened to be at LA’s famous Chinese Theatre.

Attending the MTV Music Awards in 2003, Bai spotted Lucas backstage. “I was debating for five minutes,” she told me with infectious energy over the phone from LA. “Should I say hello or not? I was nervous people ask him for a job all the time, so I didn’t say hello.”

Retiring to a sofa to slip out of her towering heels, the belated Star Wars fan was joined by another partygoer with the same idea. It turned out this new friend had seen the 2000 episode of TV show “Angel” in which Bai played pyrokinetic demon princess Jhiera.

Click below to read the full article.