Leonardo DiCaprio may be a well-documented fan of the Star Wars movies and the Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. Still, he has never truly ventured to a galaxy far, far away. But that isn’t due to Hollywood’s lack of trying! Did you know that the acclaimed actor was almost cast in the beloved science fiction movies too?
In 1999, the first Star Wars prequel movie was released, introducing the world to Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and his relationship with a young Darth Vader – named Anakin Skywalker. In the second action movie of the trilogy, we saw a grown-up Anakin learning the ways of the force, played by Hayden Christensen. But Christensen wasn’t the first pick when it came to casting the young Padawan.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight back in 2000, DiCaprio was asked if George Lucas had ever approached him to play the Star Wars character Anakin Skywalker. “We have talked about it,” the star said. “but there is no script or anything.”
However, despite going on to confirm that he would consider playing the role of Anakin – before his Darth Vader transformation – in the 20002 movie Attack of the Clones, in a conversation with the magazine Short List he shared how he ultimately “didn’t feel ready to take that dive”. While it might seem strange to learn that the award-winning actor was intimidated by the Star Wars timeline, his turning down of the IP isn’t shocking.
It is no secret that DiCaprio shies away from cinematic franchises. In the past, he was also approached to play Robin in the Batman movie Batman Forever. Similarly, he was also put forward to star as Peter Parker in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies.
And considering how DiCaprio reportedly gave the advice of “No hard drugs and no superhero movies” to Dune star Timothée Chalamet – we don’t see his stance, at least on joining either the MCU or DCEU changing anytime soon.
DiCaprio is also too busy to think about Star Wars. Currently, the actor is set to appear in the 2023 movie Killers of the Flower Moon, and is attached to three more projects, including the drama movie Roosevelt.
For more stellar picks, here is our guide to The Mandalorian season 3.