Gary Oldman’s helped Batman battle the Joker and Harry Potter take down Voldemort, but he was nearly on the wrong side in Star Wars, the dark side. According to TIME, Oldman actually auditioned for and secured the role of General Grievous – the asthmatic cyborg leader of the Separatist’s droid army.
Oldman reportedly recorded a number of lines for the sinister cyborg before quitting the project. So what caused Oldman to abandon the science fiction movie? Well, George Lucas had a habit of using non-union crews while making his sci-fi series and Oldman was a member of the union meaning he couldn’t legally make the film.
“Gary was excited and looking forward to working on the film. The snag is that the movie is being made without members of the Screen Actors Guild,” Oldman’s representative told The Guardian at the time. “It means Gary would have been working illegally overseas. Out of respect and solidarity with the other members, he could not and would not consider violating the rules of his union.”
It’s a shame Oldman missed out on playing one of the coolest looking Star Wars characters, but it’s not necessarily the end of the world. Since walking away from the four-armed menace, Oldman’s gone on to win an Oscar for the war movie Darkest Hour.
If you love Star Wars, check out our guide on The Mandalorian season 3, or if that’s not your thing, we have an article all about the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.