10 Major Star Wars Roles That Almost Went to Different Actors

Having a job in a Star Wars film or tv sequence has grow to be a coveted factor amongst Hollywood’s largest actors. We see this with the Stormtrooper cameos by Daniel Craig and Jason Sudeikis, and extra not too long ago with Jack Black, Lizzo, and Christopher Lloyd in The Mandalorian. For each main Star Wars function performed by a specific actor, there’s a laundry checklist of high-profile names that just about, however did not fairly land the half. These are 10 main Star Wars roles that just about went to totally different actors.

10 Toshiro Mifune - Ben Kenobi

It isn’t any secret that when making Star Wars, George Lucas was closely influenced by basic Samurai movies, notably these made by iconic director Akira Kurosawa. This reverence in the direction of Kurosawa’s movies even led Lucas to need Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune to tackle the mentor function of Ben Kenobi. Years later, Mifune’s daughter confirmed that her father was certainly approached to play Kenobi, however finally resolve to cross as he feared the movie would “cheapen the image of samurai”, in what needed to be a disappointing second for Lucas. Alec Guinness would go on to play the realized Jedi grasp in among the finest and extra iconic roles in his profession.

9 Elizabeth Olsen - Rey

When it was introduced within the Fall of 2012 that The Walt Disney Company had bought Lucasfilm, fan hypothesis started nearly instantly about who might star within the then-untitled Episode VII. Now identified for her iconic function as Wanda Maximoff within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Elizabeth Olsen, amongst others, was requested to audition for the a part of Rey through the casting means of The Force Awakens.

Her potential to decide to the brand new franchise was inhibited nevertheless by her dedication to quite a few yet-to-be-developed MCU initiatives. While it’s hypothesis about how director JJ Abrams actually was in Olsen for the a part of Rey, the actor undoubtedly would have jumped on the probability to hitch the house saga.

8 Eddie Redmayne - Kylo Ren

While the now iconic efficiency by Adam Driver is taken into account to be one of many highlights of the sequel trilogy, the function might have gone to Oscar-winning actor, Eddie Redmayne, The actor has recounted his audition for the half quite a few occasions through the years, having not described it as considered one of his extra fruitful endeavors. It definitely would have been attention-grabbing to see the actors tackle the tragically flawed character of Kylo Ren.

7 Tom Holland - Finn

In 2021, actor Tom Holland revealed he had gotten fairly far into the audition course of to play Finn within the 2015 return of the Star Wars franchise, The Force Awakens. The actor credit his incapacity to maintain a straight face as his audition associate made android noises through the audition. Luckily for Holland, he went on to grow to be a central determine within the Marvel Cinematic Universe because the pleasant neighborhood Spider-Man.

6 Taron Egerton - Han Solo

Whoever was forged to tackle the long-lasting function of Han Solo in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story was going to face an uphill problem. Harrison Ford left a definitive imprint on the character that no actor might ever really replicate. While Alden Ehrenreich would ultimately go on to play the youthful model of Solo, it was Kingsman front-man, Taron Egerton who had auditioned for the half. While Egerton would have undoubtedly carried out properly within the function, lacking out could have benefited the star in the long term, because the film would go on to obtain pretty destructive opinions and usher in a middling field workplace return.

5 Leonardo DiCaprio - Anakin Skywalker

While his efficiency has obtained an enchancment in reward in recent times, Hayden Christensen’s obtained loads of criticism when Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith have been initially launched. While a considerable amount of this is because of poor writing on the a part of George Lucas, it’s onerous to not think about a extra seasoned actor taking over the function. One title thought of to tackle the function of Skywalker was Leonardo DiCaprio, who finally turned down the function, citing a wariness to tackle a big franchise function.

4 Benicio del Toro - Darth Maul

While Darth Maul could be performed by quite a few actors through the years in each reside motion and animated mediums, it was acclaimed actor Benicio del Toro who reportedly had the function locked in for the primary of three prequel movies, The Phantom Menace. However, with Maul’s function being diminished by script rewrites by Lucas, del Toro misplaced curiosity and dropped out of the working. Darth Maul would go on to be one of many ups in a film stuffed with ups and downs, regardless of the small half he did play.

3 Hugh Jackman - Obi-Wan Kenobi

One of the silver linings to come back out of the comparatively panned prequel trilogy was the efficiency given by Ewan McGregor because the youthful Obi-Wan Kenobi. Before McGregor signed on to play the Jedi Knight, it was comparatively unknown actor Hugh Jackman who was additionally in rivalry to play the half. It was this unknown high quality nevertheless that will have labored towards Jackman, who ended up dropping out on the function. The actor wouldn’t be saved down for very lengthy, as only a few years later he would tackle the career-altering function of Wolverine within the long-running X-Men franchise.

2 Jodie Foster - Princess Leia

For years, there was chatter that iconic actor Jodie Foster had been in talks to play Princess Leia within the authentic Star Wars. It was Foster herself who confirmed these years later, citing a scheduling battle that may have interfered together with her potential to star within the function. To take nothing away from the actor, this was most likely finest for all events concerned, as Carrier Fisher would go on to embody Leia for generations of Star Wars followers.

1 Al Pacino - Han Solo

Al Pacino as Han Solo, think about that. It is tough to do, even when you did not have prior information of Harrison Ford’s iconic tackle the character. If you ask Pacino although, if it wasn’t for his lack of information of the script, he had the half within the bag. Say hi there to his huge bushy buddy Chewbacca.