Over the years, the Star Wars franchise has secretly cast celebrities in minor roles without acknowledging them — for example, Daniel Craig played a Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens. But what about the rumor that *NSYNC was cast in the 2002 prequel Star Wars: Attack of the Clones? The group addressed it during their September 21 appearance on the YouTube series Hot Ones.

The group told host Sean Evans it’s partly true: Only Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and JC Chasez were offered the parts of Jedi in the film.

“Lance [Bass] and me were so butt-hurt,” Justin Timberlake says, evidently still salty over the whole thing.

“But they got cut out anyway,” Lance offers.

“When you guys cut out, we were, like, [secretly laughing],” Justin recalls.

During the Hot Ones episode, the group chose what they consider their five best songs: “I Thought She Knew,” “Bye Bye Bye,” “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” “It’s Gonna Be Me” and “Drive Myself Crazy.” 

As for their new song, “Better Place,” Justin said their goal while recording was to “give them something that felt, not necessarily nostalgic, but familiar.” 

JC added, “W’re obviously influenced by 20 years of experiences, but we still want to give them us.”

“Better Place” is out September 29.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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