Chewbacca to star in Glee festive special

'Star Wars' character Chewbacca is set to make a guest appearance in a 'Glee' Christmas special episode when he appears in one of Artie Abrams' dreams.

'Star Wars' character Chewbacca is set to make a guest appearance on 'Glee'.

Harry Shum Jr. - who plays Mike Chang - revealed the Wookie is in one of Artie Abrams' (Kevin McHale) dreams during a Christmas special episode, and he admitted the hairy space traveller's appearance was a "huge surprise" for the cast.

He told AOL TV: "He makes an appearance into Artie's dream in a way. I can't really delve into the details, but it's something to do with Artie.

"It was incredibly awesome. It was a huge surprise."

'Glee' stars Chris Colfer and Mark Salling - who play Kurt Hummel and Noah 'Puck' Puckerman respectively - were among those to get pictures with the iconic sci-fi character, and Harry admitted producers had to bring Chewbacca back on set because some actors were "so angry" they didn't get a photograph with him.

He added: "They actually got him to come back to take pictures with us, too.

"We were so angry that we didn't get a picture with Chewbacca. It was so funny how many people actually love Chewbacca.

"Half of us came in right after he was done and it was like a mad house. Everyone's face was so happy. They were showing off their pictures."

Matthew Morrison - who plays teacher Will Schuester and directed the festive episode - revealed 'Glee' bosses had to get 'Star Wars' creator George Lucas' permission to include Chewbacca in the programme.

He explained: "We called up George Lucas and he gave us Chewbacca. There is only one guy who can officially be Chewbacca, and he lives in Northern California and they flew him in.

"We had Chewbacca for the day, and it was just great, and we were all taking pictures with him. This is a guy who has been doing it for 12 years."

The special episode airs in the US next Tuesday (13.12.11).