Almost a Galaxy Far, Far Away: 20 Stars Who Nearly Landed Star Wars Roles
Image: StarWars.com
It’s been almost 50 years since movie audiences were first transported to a galaxy far, far, away when Star Wars debuted on May 25, 1977—and pop culture hasn’t been the same since. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford became icons as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo, turning a scrappy sci-fi adventure into one of the most beloved franchises of all time.
But as we celebrate Star Wars Month it’s worth remembering that the galaxy we know almost looked very different. Because before the final cast was locked, there were dozens of actors who came this close to stepping into hyperspace.
So what if the Force had made different choices? Let’s take a trip through the ultimate Star Wars casting multiverse. Keep going for our roundup of 20 actors who were almost cast in movies in the Star Wars franchise.
The Original Trilogy “What-Ifs”:
1.Kurt Russell (Han Solo)
Images: Getty/20th Century Fox
Before Han Solo became synonymous with Harrison Ford, Kurt Russell stepped into the audition room and even completed a screen test. In a 2015 interview with The Daily Beast, Russell talked about choosing between starring in Star Wars or a new TV Western, The Quest. "I was in there on Star Wars and remember asking [Star Wars creator] George [Lucas] one day, 'Do you think you’re going to use me or not?' And he said, 'I don’t know which part I prefer you in. I don’t know if I like you as Han and this guy as Skywalker, or this guy as Han and you as Skywalker. I don’t know.' ”
After Lucas said he couldn't give Russell an answer, the actor said, “ 'All right, I’m going to go take this Western and there will be one less guy to think about.' I don’t know if he would’ve hired me." It’s easy to imagine the alternate swagger he could have brought to the Millennium Falcon.
2. Christopher Walken (Han Solo)
Images: Getty/20th Century Fox
Christopher Walken was also reportedly in contention for Han Solo—an alternate casting choice that almost feels too surreal to imagine. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the Oscar-winning actor recalled that he auditioned to play one of the leads in George Lucas' original space opera back in 1975. “I think it was for Han Solo,” Walken said. “Yes, I auditioned for it. And if I’m not mistaken, my partner in the audition was — I think this is true — it was Jodie Foster.” The actor recalled he and Foster "did a screen test" rather than a full scene from the movie's script.
3. Al Pacino (Han Solo)
Images: 20th Century Fox/Getty Images
Al Pacino was offered the role of Han Solo but ultimately turned it down, later admitting he didn’t fully understand the script at the time. “It was at that time in my career when I was offered everything,” he told MTV at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival. “I was in The Godfather. They didn’t care if I was right or wrong for the role, if I could act or not act. ‘He’s in The Godfather. Offer him everything!’ So they offered me this movie. And I remember not understanding it when I read it. Another missed opportunity!”
4. Burt Reynolds (Han Solo)
Images: Getty/20th Century Fox
Another actor who passed on the role of Han Solo was Burt Reynolds. "I just didn't want to play that kind of role at the time," he told Business Insider in 2016. "Now I regret it. I wish I would have done it." His signature Southern charm would have made for a very different kind of rogue.
5. Sylvester Stallone
Images: Getty/20th Century Fox
Sylvester Stallone has talked about having an “awkward” audition for Han Solo. During a 2010 online fan Q&A on Ain’t it Cool News, the Rocky star revealed that George Lucas didn’t give him a second glance when he tried out for A New Hope. “Yes as a matter of fact I did [audition] and it didn’t meet with much approval since when I stood in front of George Lucas he didn’t look at me once,” Stallone explained. “Then I said ‘Well obviously I’m not the right type.’ But it all worked out for the best since I don’t look good in spandex holding a Ray gun.”
6. Jodie Foster (Princess Leia)
Images: Getty/20th Century Fox
For Princess Leia, Jodie Foster was strongly considered for the role. Given that Foster was only 14 at the time, George Lucas would have had to drastically change the script.“They were going for a younger Princess Leia but I had a conflict," the star confirmed during a January 2024 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "I was doing a Disney movie and I just didn’t want to pull out because I was already under contract," she continued. "So, I didn’t do it,” leaving the door open for Carrie Fisher to take on the now-iconic role.
7. Cindy Williams (Princess Leia)
Images: Getty/20th Century Fox
Cindy Williams made it to the finalist stage for Princess Leia, coming remarkably close to stepping into the role that would define a generation. The actress has previously worked with George Lucas in American Graffiti. Williams was apparently given the last-minute ax after making it far enough in the audition process to shoot a screen test.
8. Mel Blanc (C3-P0 Voice)
Images: Wikipedia/20th Century Fox
Although Anthony Daniels had already secured his spot inside the C-3PO suit, George Lucas was apparently initially intent on dubbing over the English actor’s voice. It was then that animation icon Mel Blanc — “the Man of a Thousand Voices” — entered the mix. However, as Daniels remembers the story, it was Blanc who finally convinced Lucas to just go with the talent he already had. “George was trying to find a voice to replace the one I had done through a radio transmitter,” Daniels reportedly told one of his former personal assistants. “He got bogged down by Richard Dreyfuss, who was one of the people that tried to make a voice. It may have been Mel who said ‘Anthony’s voice is really good, why don’t you keep it?’ And, George kept it.”
9. Orson Welles (Darth Vader Voice)
Images: Getty/20th Century Fox
Prequels & Sequels: The Casting Multiverse Expands:
10. Leonardo DiCaprio (Anakin Skywalker)
Images: Getty/Lucasfilm
Although Hayden Christensen was eventually chosen to play Anakin Skywalker in the second two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, the role was apparently originally offered to Leonardo DiCaprio. The actor, who was still riding the wave of his Titanic fame, told the Shortlist in 2014 that he met with George Lucas to discuss the part, but ultimately turned it down. “[I] just didn’t feel ready to take that dive,” he explained.
11. Ryan Phillippe (Anakin Skywalker)
Images: Miramax/Lucasfilm
Following his turn as bad boy Sebastian Valmont in the 1999 cult classic, Cruel Intentions, Ryan Phillippe was also in the running for the Anakin role in Attack of the Clones. Ultimately, George Lucas felt he was “too old” to play the 19-year-old character.“There is a part of me that really wanted the role. And I got pretty far down to the final cut,” he told WENN in 2001. “I got to test with Natalie Portman, who is Princess Amidala. In real life, I’m seven years older than her, which was dubbed too old. At age 29, I was an over the hill Anakin.”
12. Tupac Shakur (Mace Windu)
Images: Britannica/Lucasfilm
TuPac Shakur reportedly read for the part of Mace Windu in the early casting stages of Episode I: The Phantom Menace. However, following the rapper’s death in September 1996, the role of the Jedi master went to Samuel L. Jackson.
13. Benicio del Toro (Darth Maul)
Images: Getty/Lucasfilm
Nearly two decades before his appearance as the scheming DJ in 2017's The Last Jedi, BenicioDel Toro was initially cast as Palpatine's apprentice, Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace. According to CBR, the Academy Award winner was set to play the part until George Lucas chose to significantly trim Maul’s lines in the film. Once Del Toro was notified, he dropped and martial artist, Ray Park stepped in.
14. Michael Jackson (Jar Jar Binks)
Images: Getty/Lucasfilm
According to The Rolling Stone, Michael Jackson wanted to play Jar Jar and viewed it as his dream role. Jackson wanted to wear heavy prosthetics to play the part. George Lucas thought Jackson would be too recognizable in the role, and wanted to use new motion capture technology that ILM pioneered for it.
15. Gary Oldman (General Grievous)
Images: Getty/Lucasfilm
Gary Oldman was considered to voice the droid warlord, general grievous in the final installment of the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith. The actor reportedly pulled out of the film due to the fact it was a non-Screen Actors Guild film. The part went to Matthew Wood instead.
16. Joseph Fiennes (Obi-Wan Kenobi)
Images: Getty/Lucasfilm
Ewan McGregor landed the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, but Joseph Fiennes auditioned for the role after starring in Shakespeare in Love. During a 2017 interview with The Wrap, the actor recalled reading for the part in front of Lucas and casting director Robin Gurland. At the audition, he met someone's young daughter, “a lovely, delightful child,” he said. “Must’ve been around age 5 — and he introduced me, ‘this is Joe and he’s quite possibly Obi-Wan Kenobi. His daughter turned around and said ‘I don’t like this guy. He’s weird. I don’t like him,' " he continued. "And that’s how my audition went."
17. Michael Fassbender (Kylo Ren)
Images: Getty/Lucasfilm
Although Michael Fassbender never revealed exactly which role he was in the running for in The Force Awakens, it’s rumored that director J.J. Abrams spoke to him about playing Kylo Ren before the role went to Adam Driver. .“We talked about a role,” Fassbender said during a 2016 appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “We had a conversation. I’m pretty sure I was busy doing something else in the summer he was kickstarting that.”
18. Eddie Redmayne (Kylo Ren)
Images: Getty/Lucasfilm
Oscar-winning actor, Eddie Redmayne auditioned for Kylo Ren but later described his performance as disastrous. "With films that top secret, they don’t give you the actual lines," he told Uproxx in 2016, recalling his audition for playing the Force Awakens villain. "So they give you a scene from Pride and Prejudice, but then they tell you you’re auditioning for the baddie. If you’re me, you then put some ridiculous voice on."
19. Tom Holland (Finn)
Images: Getty/Lucasfilm
During a 2015 appearance on Hot Ones, Spider-Man star, Tom Holland, revealed how he fumbled his audition for Finn in The Force Awakens because he kept laughing while his scene partner played a droid. "I just got the giggles, because you know when you realize you've got something so wrong? I just couldn't stop laughing," said Holland. "I think John Boyega was just better for the role than me."
20. Saoirse Ronan (Rey)
Images: Shutterstock/Lucasfilm
Before Daisy Ridley landed the role of Rey, Saoirse Ronan auditioned for the role and went on the record about her experience. During a 2015 appearance on the Empire Podcast, Ronan spoke about how much she enjoyed going out for a role in The Force Awakens. "So I’ve gone in and read for it, but I have to say, I think it’s the only time I’ve ever thought, ‘You know what? Even if I don’t get it, I had so much fun auditioning," Ronan continued. "Pretending to take out a lightsaber — out of a bag, kind of inspect it and not know what it is… that was great.”
The Force Works in Mysterious Ways
Looking back, it’s nearly impossible to imagine the Star Wars films any other way. These casting near-misses are fun to explore, but they also highlight just how much instinct, timing, and creative vision shape the stories that define generations.
Still, in the spirit of Star Wars Month it’s fun to imagine the alternate galaxy where everything looked just a little bit different.Because sometimes, the smallest casting decision can change the entire universe.
