What celebrity cameos were in The Force Awakens?

Question

At least two celebrities played almost anonymous small roles in The Force Awakens.

Daniel Craig played a stormtrooper, though no one would know about his role unless they read about it.

And Simon Pegg played Unkar Plutt, but was so hidden behind a costume that you would not know it was him unless you read about it.

These famous actors probably took these anonymous bit parts just for the fun of being part of Star Wars. Did other famous actors or actresses also have bit parts in The Force Awakens? If so, who? And what did they play?

Answer 1

There are a few, though your definition of "celebrity" may vary slightly:

• Mentioned in the question, Daniel Craig didn't play just any Stromtrooper; he played the one in Rey's interrogation scene
• Frank Oz and Ewan McGregor reprised the voices of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi (respectively) for Rey's vision. Alec Guiness' voice was also used in the scene, thanks to the magic of archive footage and audio editing
• It's pretty clear that Admiral Ackbar had a brief appearance (and a few lines) in the Resistance Base scenes, but it's less clear that he was played by his original actors: Tim Rose in the suit, and the late Erik Bauersfeld providing the voice

• Similarly, Nien Nunb (Lando's Sullustan co-pilot from Jedi) appears in the Resistance Base scenes, played by his original actors Mike Quinn (the Man in the Rubber Mask) and Kipsang Rotich (the voice of the character).

  Amusingly, Nunb is Rotich's only major acting role; he had been an intern at Skywalker Sound when he voiced the character in 1981, after which point he disappeared from Hollywood. There's a quite fascinating two-part blog series on StarWars.com detailing the arduous process of tracking Rotich down to reprise the role

• Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi, and a reasonably well-known actor in his own right) appeared as a background character in Maz's bar
• Bill Hader (Superbad, Bob's Burgers, The Venture Brothers) and Ben Schwartz (Parks & Rec) contributed to the voice of BB-8
• Kevin Smith voiced a First Order stormtrooper; he's the one who first reacts to the Resistance's arrival on Takodana
• Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Maze Runner, Game of Thrones, Love Actually, two episodes of Doctor Who) was a First Order soldier (with a speaking part)
• A number of other Game of Thrones castmembers made brief appearances; Vanity Fair calls some of them out
• While you may debate whether or not this is a cameo (though I think Pegg has more screen time), Lor San Tekka (the old man on Jakku from the first scene) was played by legendary actor Max von Sydow
• Harriet Walter, a fairly well-known British actress (well enough to have been made a Dame (female equivilent of a Knighthood)), appears as the Resistance medic who looks after Chewie
• Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher's daughter, appeared as one of Leia's aides
• Abrams himself kinda-sorta cameod, along with Lin-Manuel Miranda (writer, composer, and lead actor of the popular recent musical Hamilton); the pair composed and performed the song "Jabba Flow", which we hear in Maz's bar; I've yet to confirm whether either of them actually appeared on screen
• As phantom42 points out in comments, you kind of need to count Mark Hamill as well; he has less screen time than many of the other people listed here, and he doesn't even have a speaking part

• Quite a number of veterans of The Clone Wars animated series voiced incidental characters, including:

  • Matt Lanter (Anakin)
  • Sam Witwer (Maul)
  • Meredith Salenger (Barris Offee)
  • Dee Bradley Baker (every Clone Trooper)
  • Fred Tatasciore (Tarpals), also known for the Kung-Fu Panda film franchise
  • James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan)
  • Tom Kane (Yoda, the Narrator)
  • Catherine Taber (Padmé)
  • Matthew Wood (Grievous), who also provided the voice of Grievous in Revenge of the Sith
  • Dave Filoni, who was the supervising director of The Clone Wars, co-creator and executive producer of Rebels, creator of Ahsoka Tano, and voice of Embo the badass bounty hunter

Answer 2

There are actually far more than you would expect. These were taken from a wikipedia article but each of them has been supplied with a reliable source. There is also a The Daily Beast article if need a different source

• Daniel Craig - an unnamed trooper who has a mind trick played on him by Rey
• Ewan McGregor - vocal cameo for Obi-Wan in a flashback
• Bill Hader - vocal consultant for BB-8
• Ken Leung - a resistance admiral
• Simon Pegg - Unkar Plutt
• Kiran Shah - Teedo; the scavenger on Jakku who is confronted by Rey
• Jessica Henwick - an X-wing fighter for the resistance
• Greg Grunberg - Temmin Wexley - an X-wing pilot
• Cast of the Raid - members of the Kanjiklub
• Brian Vernel - Bala-Tik - leader of the Guavian death gang
• Warwick Davis - Wollivan, a tavern dweller at Maz's castle
• Anna Brewster - Bazine Netal - a first order spy
• Thomas Brodie-Sangster - a first order petty officer
• Billie Lourd - lieutenant Connix
• Emun Elliott - Brance, an member of the resistance
• Harriett Walter - Kalonia, a doctor that tends to Chewbacca
• Mark Stanley - knight of Ren
• Michael Giacchino - stormtrooper
• Nigel Godrich - stormtrooper
• Gerald Abrams - Captain Cypress

There were also several other vocal cameos throughout the film.