15 Actors Who Almost Starred In The Star Wars Franchise

With a growing number of popular television series, an enduring line of blockbuster movies, and countless multimedia merchandising, “Star Wars” is one of the biggest franchises in the world. And with so many iconic performances throughout the series’ extensive history, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing many of these beloved characters. However, some of the most prominent roles across the franchise nearly saw casting opportunities and changes that would’ve shocked even the most hardcore “Star Wars” fans. Simply put, deeply associated actors like Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford weren’t always a lock for Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, respectively.

This distinction wasn’t limited to the original “Star Wars” trilogy but also the prequels, the sequel trilogy, and the various shows and spinoff movies the franchise has seen in recent years. These often involve the biggest parts in a given project, before the casting that we all know and love took place. If these alternate castings took place, that galaxy far, far away would have looked a lot different. 

Here are 15 actors who almost starred in the “Star Wars” franchise.

Arguably the biggest name, at the time, who was strongly considered to play Han Solo during the casting on “A New Hope” was Al Pacino. The actor was fresh off the first two “Godfather” movies, “Serpico,” and “Dog Day Afternoon,” with all four performances earning him Academy Award nominations. With most of the “Star Wars” cast filled with relatively unknown actors, filmmaker George Lucas felt a more established movie star would help attract audiences. Given Pacino’s impressive streak of commercial and critical successes throughout the ’70s, Lucas offered Pacino the part of Han Solo, the cool and gruff interstellar smuggler.

Pacino was allowed to read the script for “A New Hope,” but he couldn’t understand it or how he could possibly fit into the space opera. Pacino refused Lucas’ offer to join “Star Wars,” taking on more dramatic projects, like 1977’s “Bobby Deerfield” and 1979’s “…And Justice for All,” which were right in his creative wheelhouse. Harrison Ford was cast as Han Solo instead, with the role catapulting him to become a Hollywood superstar himself. Even after the immense success of the franchise, Pacino had no regrets in turning down the role, though he joked that Ford owed him for his career.

By the mid ’70s, when “Star Wars” began its casting process, Kurt Russell was a well-established young actor in Hollywood. As Russell was looking to transition to more serious and adult roles in his career, he auditioned for the role of Han Solo. According to Russell, Lucas was unsure if the actor was a better fit for Solo or the bright-eyed pilot Luke Skywalker. It was this indecision that informed Russell ditching “Star Wars” for more certain work elsewhere.

This more concrete project for Russell was the 1976 television series “The Quest,” which starred Russell and ran for a single season and television movie. Reflecting on the experience, Russell noted that he was unsure if Lucas would’ve ultimately cast him anyway, rather than dwell on any perceived missed opportunity. In the meantime, Russell eventually teamed up with filmmaker John Carpenter for the television movie “Elvis,” leading to a fruitful creative partnership between them with decidedly more mature movies.

While Carrie Fisher memorably gave the holographic call to action as Princess Leia Organa in “A New Hope,” Jodie Foster was under consideration for the regal role. Like Kurt Russell, Foster had been working steadily in Disney movies and television projects in the early to mid ’70s. When Christopher Walken auditioned for Han Solo, he recalled reading opposite Foster as Leia for his screen test. Foster would corroborate Walken’s account, confirming that she was under serious consideration to play Princess Leia.

However, as production was gearing up for “A New Hope,” Foster was still technically under contract with Disney for a different movie. Foster dutifully continued her work with Disney, refusing to drop out of her current work commitments. Given the timeline, this would’ve likely been the original version of “Freaky Friday,” released in 1976, while “Star Wars” was deep in production. Soon thereafter, Foster earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance in 1976’s “Taxi Driver,” catapulted her career towards its own acclaimed trajectory.

It’s well-established that George Lucas was heavily inspired by the work of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, an influence that included Kurosawa’s frequent collaborator Toshiro Mifune. That level of inspiration very nearly carried over to casting for “A New Hope” for multiple major roles in the original trilogy. By the ’60s, Mifune had begun to work on major film projects outside of Japan, including American productions. With that in mind, Lucas considered Mifune for two different distinguished roles in “A New Hope,” the movie’s grizzled hero and imposing villain.

According to the late actor’s daughter Mika, Toshiro Mifune was offered the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi by Lucas. Given the reputation of cheap sci-fi movies at the time, Mifune turned Lucas down over concerns regarding the film’s quality. Lucas then offered the Darth Vader role to Mifune, who was uninterested in playing a character whose face was fully obscured by a helmet. Mifune was also concerned about “Star Wars” potentially having a negative impact on international perception of samurai culture, something that the franchise only enhanced in displaying those influences.

Darth Vader is one the most recognizable villains in pop culture, in no small part because of his booming authoritative voice provided by James Earl Jones. Intended to have a commanding vocal presence to complement the physical performance by David Prowse, Lucas narrowed down his choice for Vader’s voice to two actors: Jones and Orson Welles. By the ’70s, Welles had branched out into work as a narrator and host, putting his stentorian voice to good use. This body of work may have inadvertently contributed to Welles losing the Sith Lord role.

In a 2011 interview with BBC News, Jones recalled that Welles was Lucas’ first pick before deciding Welles’ voice would be too recognizable. Several years later, Lucas clarified that while the choice did come down between Welles and Jones, Jones “won hands down,” not factoring in feelings of voice recognition. Welles would eventually get to voice a memorable big screen villain, playing Unicron in 1986’s “The Transformers: The Movie.” As for Jones, the part of Darth Vader became the most famous role in his celebrated career and a bonafide pop culture icon.

Long before he became “A Nightmare on Elm Street” horror icon Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund was up for two different prominent roles in “Star Wars.” One of Lucas’ fellow filmmaker friends was Francis Ford Coppola, who happened to be casting for “Apocalypse Now” at the same time Lucas was casting for “A New Hope.” After auditioning for “Apocalypse Now,” Englund learned about “Star Wars” being at a similar stage in its pre-production nearby. Englund met with the casting crew about the possibility of playing Han Solo and took home the audition material for Luke Skywalker.

Englund informed his friend Mark Hamill that George Lucas was casting for “Star Wars,” with both young actors fans of Lucas’ previous movie “American Graffiti.” Hamill alerted his agent of the project, who convinced the casting director on “A New Hope” to allow Hamill to audition. Hamill, of course, ultimately won the part of Luke Skywalker, while Englund would find his own blockbuster success several years later. In the end, it was Freddy Krueger that helped find Luke Skywalker.

When news came out that George Lucas was finally making the “Star Wars” prequels, celebrity fans sought to be involved in the trilogy first installment, “The Phantom Menace.” While actors like Keira Knightley were successful in this endeavor, the enormously successful pop star Michael Jackson was not. Jackson was particularly interested in playing Jar Jar Binks, a Gungan accompanying the movie’s heroic party, often providing “The Phantom Menace” with its comic relief. Ultimately, the role of Jar Jar went to actor Ahmed Best, part he played in all three prequel movies.

The news of Jackson’s interest in playing Jar Jar came from Best himself in an interview years after the release of “The Phantom Menace.” While attending a Michael Jackson concert in London with co-star Natalie Portman, Lucas, and his family, Best met Jackson backstage. Lucas privately revealed to Best that Jackson wanted to play Jar Jar but wanted to portray the character through prosthetics, while Lucas preferred creating him through CGI. Though the character was divisively received and Best understandably had a rough go enduring the intense backlash, at least he got one over on the King of Pop.

Michael Jackson isn’t the only chart-topping musician that was linked to a major role in “The Phantom Menace.” Renowned hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur had steadily been acting in a growing number of movies in addition to his prolific rapping career. According to former Death Row Records chief engineer Rick Clifford, who worked with Shakur at the record label, Shakur was approached by Lucas for a role in the prequel trilogy. Based on his conversation with Shakur, Clifford shared that the artist was excited to read for the part of Jedi Master Mace Windu.

It’s unclear how far Shakur got into the casting process for “The Phantom Menace” before his untimely death in 1996, while pre-production was underway. Lucas himself has yet to comment on the possibility of Shakur playing a Jedi in the prequel trilogy, but the timing certainly lines up to Clifford’s account. Mace Windu was played by Samuel L. Jackson, who ironically appeared with Shakur in the 1992 film “Juice.”

Though Benicio del Toro eventually appeared in the “Star Wars” franchise, as the morally dubious codebreaker DJ in “The Last Jedi,” he was up for a role far earlier. When Lucas was assembling the cast for “The Phantom Menace” in the late ’90s, he actually signed del Toro to play the movie’s big bad Darth Maul. An enforcer for Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) orchestrating the Trade Federation’s invasion of Naboo, Maul pursued the heroes across the galaxy in the film. However, when Lucas’ plans for the character changed drastically, del Toro decided to leave the project altogether.

Reportedly, Maul was intended to have more dialogue than the mere three lines he has in the finished film. Choosing to make Maul more of a physically imposing presence than an articulate villain, Lucas significantly cut Maul’s dialogue from the script. Unhappy with this change, del Toro left the project (according to Far Out), with Maul physically played by Ray Park while his brief dialogue was voiced by Peter Serafinowicz. Del Toro returned to the franchise 18 years later as a completely different character, with exponentially more lines than Maul had in the entirety of “The Phantom Menace.”

By the mid ’90s, Leonardo DiCaprio was already one of the most sought after young actors in Hollywood. DiCaprio had earned rave reviews for performances in dramas like “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” and was being eyed for a number of blockbuster projects. This included playing Robin in 1995’s “Batman Forever” and Spider-Man in an unrealized superhero movie made by James Cameron. Even after becoming a household name with “Titanic,” DiCaprio wasn’t particularly interested in the big studio tentpole projects, including “Star Wars.”

When casting was underway for 2002’s “Attack of the Clones,” the middle installment of the prequel trilogy, Lucas was looking for an actor in his 20s to play Anakin Skywalker. This put DiCaprio on Lucas’ radar, who confirmed years later that he met with Lucas about the possibility. Not feeling he was ready for a project like “Star Wars” at that stage of his career, DiCaprio declined the opportunity to play Anakin, with Hayden Christensen cast instead. For his part, Christensen was ecstatic about getting to play the once and future Darth Vader, celebrating with his roommate like the fanboy he is.

The finale to the prequel trilogy, 2005’s “Revenge of the Sith” featured the CG villain General Grievous, who served as the field commander for Separatists during the Clone Wars. Introduced in the 2003 “Clone Wars” animated series by Genndy Tartakovsky, Grievous was voiced by Matthew Wood in “Revenge of the Sith” and the subsequent 2008 CG animated series. A cybernetic villain with a raspy voice and distinct cough, Grievous memorably fought Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) where the Jedi unceremoniously blasted his weak point, killing him. In searching for an actor with the right sinister gravitas to play Grievous, George Lucas initially cast Gary Oldman for the role.

Oldman shared that he recorded several lines as Grievous before quietly being recast by Wood, with Grievous’ dialogue completely re-recorded. In an interview years after the release of “Revenge of the Sith,” Oldman recalled that his departure from the movie was due to the tricky union nature of the production. With “Episode III” being a non-Screen Actors Guild project filmed overseas, Oldman would need special permission to participate as he was and is a SAG member. Though this permission was requested by the production, Oldman played it safe and walked away from “Revenge of the Sith” and his intended role as Grievous.

Just as George Lucas had done when casting for “A New Hope” in the ’70s, filmmaker J.J. Abrams launched a wide search when casting for 2015’s “The Force Awakens.” Given the scope and hype surrounding the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, everyone from established actors to complete unknowns read for a variety of roles in the project. One prominent actor who threw their hat in the ring for a potential part in the planned trilogy was Irish actor Michael Fassbender. By this time, Fassbender was no stranger to starring in major Hollywood blockbusters, playing a younger Magneto in the X-Men movies.

A year after the release of “The Force Awakens,” Fassbender shared that he was in consideration for a role in the movie. Fassbender didn’t specify which character he was lined up for, noting that he simply had a conversation about joining the project before scheduling conflicts barred his participation. In a later interview, Fassbender clarified that he was not up for the movie’s principal antagonist Kylo Ren. Given Fassbender’s acting sensibilities and the overall story, he likely was up to play the similarly villainous General Hux or heroic Poe Dameron, but this is just speculation.

One actor who has since admitted that they auditioned for the role of Kylo Ren is English thespian Eddie Redmayne. The actor recalled the level of secrecy surrounding the casting process, given stand-in lines while simply being told he was auditioning for an antagonistic character. This detail proved to be Redmayne’s undoing in the audition, by his own admission, reading his lines in a “ridiculous voice” in his attempt at playing a space opera villain. This choice apparently did not impress casting director Nina Gold, though Redmayne remains grateful to Gold for their other work together.

This would’ve been around the time of Redmayne’s Academy Award-winning performance for 2014’s “The Theory of Everything,” in which played Steve Jobs. Redmayne went on to play a sci-fi villain with a ridiculous voice in “Jupiter Ascending,” released the same year as “The Force Awakens,” getting to satisfy that creative urge. Beyond science fiction, Redmayne found blockbuster success of his own, at least for a time, starring in the “Fantastic Beasts” prequels to “Harry Potter.” Meanwhile, the role of Kylo Ren went to Adam Driver, giving the sequel trilogy its moody dark Jedi.

When it comes to blockbuster projects these days, like superhero movies, the level of secrecy around them to avoid leaked spoilers is extraordinary. That confidentiality may have impacted Irish actor Saoirse Ronan’s chances at getting to join the sequel trilogy. Ronan was the first major actor to comment about the casting process for “The Force Awakens,” confirming that she read for a role in October 2013. Ronan elaborated that she got to pretend to wield a lightsaber as part of her audition.

This would suggest that Ronan auditioned for the role of Rey, with Ronan around the same approximate age as Daisy Ridley, who won the part. The following month, Ronan revealed that she did not get a “Star Wars” role, reflecting that she shouldn’t have mentioned her audition publicly. Whether her openly confirming the audition played a direct role in her not playing a part in the movie is currently unknown. Given the critical acclaim for her work that she’s received since, Ronan is certainly not letting this missed opportunity pass her by.

The first spinoff “Star Wars” movie since Lucasfilm’s acquisition by Disney was 2016’s “Rogue One.” Setting up the events of “A New Hope,” the movie stars Felicity Jones as reluctant rebel Jyn Erso. Jyn teams up with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), with the two leading a small squad to raid an Imperial base and obtain the Death Star plans. A critical and commercial success, “Rogue One” also set up the acclaimed Disney+ prequel series “Andor.”

During the casting process for “Rogue One,” both Rooney Mara and her sister Kate reportedly were considered for the role of Jyn Erso. After the project and Jones’ casting was announced, Rooney Mara confirmed she met with director Gareth Edwards about potentially joining the project, but she did not audition for it. Mara cited a scheduling conflict with another movie she was working on at the time as a major factor in her not proceeding with an audition. Given the timing, this could’ve been 2015’s “Carol” or “Pan,” leading Mara to bow out of consideration.