Shortly after the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it was confirmed that one of the Stormtroopers in a pivotal scene with Rey was actually played by 007 himself, Daniel Craig, who was manipulated by Rey's force abilities. With Star Wars: Episode VIII still in production, another rumor surfaced that a similar Stormtrooper cameo is happening. Mad Max: Fury Road star Tom Hardy is reportedly playing a First Order trooper who is very excited to cross paths with FN-2187, a.k.a. Finn (John Boyega). Naturally, that rumor hasn't been confirmed yet, but, during his appearance at the Cannes Film Festival, John Boyega himself addressed these leaked details.

The rumor that surfaced last week claims John Boyega's Finn is on a secret mission where he's recognized by this unnamed Stormtrooper, reportedly played by Tom Hardy, who "slaps him on the ass." While Finn thinks he's busted, it turns out this Stormtrooper is just very happy to see Finn, congratulating him on his "promotion" as a "Resistance infiltrator and spy," before letting him go about his business. Vulture caught up to John Boyega to see if there's any truth to this Star Wars 8 rumor, and the actor seemed quite surprised.

"Who slaps my ass? Wow! Did Tom say that? Okay. Okay. Next time I go on set I'm going to release a helmet and see if Tom Hardy's in there!"

It is believed that Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) told the rest of the First Order about this fake "promotion" as propaganda, to prevent the truth from getting out about Finn leaving the First Order to join the Resistance. Naturally, the rumor was never confirmed by Disney or LucasFilm, and we likely won't get any confirmation until the movie hits theaters on December 15, 2017. John Boyega also talked about the difference in working with Star Wars 8 director Rian Johnson, when compared to Star Wars: The Force Awakens filmmaker J.J. Abrams.

"Rian is his own man. You can't compare the two. They're of the same ilk, creatively, both talented. But two different guys, man. I really, really dig Rian, to step in like that. I hope we get to work together on something in the future, because he's got a great artistic eye. He's not Hollywood at all. This is a big Hollywood blockbuster film, but you know what I'm saying, with him behind the energy, you don't feel like you're on a Hollywood set. You feel like you're in the midst of friends and people who want to work on something creatively great."

Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced the world to Daisy Ridley, who had only appeared in one movie before playing Rey in this global blockbuster. Next year's Star Wars: Episode VIII will introduce another star in the making, Kelly Marie Tran, who has appeared in numerous guest starring TV roles and in the upcoming XOXO. While John Boyega couldn't say anything about her character, he had nothing but praise for the young actress.

"I love her. I love her. I think she's fantastic. But she'll tell her own story. I feel it's always weird or wrong for someone the world hasn't met, for me to come and start talking about her. She's great. She's freaking great, and I love her. I freaking love her. She's fantastic. Seriously. She's changed a lot in terms of perspective on just chemistry and industry. She's a real cool girl. Yeah, yeah! Her outlook. It's a friendship thing in the sense of you meet someone and you're just like, 'I vibe with you. I feel like I've known you for years.' And that's a very, very good thing. I don't know what I can and can't say. But she's fully in the movie, she's a great character, and I can't wait for you guys to be introduced to her."

Director Rian Johnson recently revealed that they passed the halfway point in the production, although there is still very little we know about the story thus far. We do know that the sequel will pick up right where Star Wars: The Force Awakens left off, with Rey and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) meeting at the Jedi temple where he spent several years in exile. There have been rumors that Rey will begin her Jedi training with Luke Skywalker in this movie, and that Kylo Ren will capture Finn and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) in hopes of luring her out of hiding for another confrontation. Stay tuned for more on Star Wars: Episode VIII as production continues.