How a 23-year-old tricked the internet into believing he was the fan-favorite of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Warning! There are some spoilers for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" below!

If memes are any measure, the internet's favorite moment in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is the fight between Finn (John Boyega) and an unnamed Stormtrooper.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Nicknamed "TR-8R" (read "traitor") for his one line of dialogue in the film, the instant fan favorite has gone viral across Tumblr, Reddit, and Twitter, with fans creating GIFs and memes dedicated to his electric baton, spinning combat moves, riot gear, and, of course, the line he shouts at Finn before their battle: "Traitor!"

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Who is the man behind the mask?

Since the film's debut in December, the internet thought it may be a guy named Alex Rolt.

The 23-year-old chef has taken credit for the wide response to the character on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Response I've had to playing this character has been phenomenal, thank you @starwars#Traitor#AlexRolt#Trooperpic.twitter.com/CnkUMVDBdA

— Alex Rolt (@AlexRolt) December 26, 2015

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

He even claimed he was at the "Star Wars" film premiere.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Afterwards, he started gaining a lot of followers online.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

However, it turns out that wasn't the case.

Thursday, Rolt admitted on Twitter he had lied about the role in the film.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Rolt had told Crawley News, in a now removed article, he was one of 7,000 hopefuls who tried out for the November 2013 open audition in London. Rolt had also claimed he was initially cast as one of The Knights of Ren, who appear briefly alongside Kylo Ren during Rey's force-awakening flashback.

"We filmed the Knights of Ren scene first, then, as I was leaving, a guy came running up behind us and said 'Can you wait? We are five guys short for another scene,'"said Rolt.

Rolt said he was chosen to face off against Boyega due to his fencing experience.  

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

"To be honest, I didn't think it would get used because it was rehearsed so quickly. I had to have some training with the prop," Rolt told Crawley News. "They got me in the Stormtrooper outfit but the prop (sword) didn't have a clip or anything on the uniform, so I had to hold it in a certain way then deliver the line "Traitor!" [then] move from point A to point B then engage, and John would do his thing and we would start fighting."

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

The real man behind TR-8R is Hollywood stunt double Liang Yang. You can read about him, here.

 This post has been updated since Rolt revealed he wasn't the actor behind TR-8R.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A 'Star Wars' star snuck into showings of 'The Force Awakens,' and fans flipped out