10 Actors Who Turned Down Star Wars
We're taking a look at those actors who foolishly turned down roles in the Star Wars franchise.
In spite of what you may think of the prequels and more recent additions to the saga, there's no denying that franchises just don't come any bigger than Star Wars. When even periphery characters from the film series manage to develop their own fan bases, it's fair to say that acting gigs just don't come any bigger than a Star Wars film.
It therefore comes as a mighty shock when an actor decides, for some crazy reason, to reject an offer to star in the iconic Space Opera. As nonsensical and crazy as such an idea may sound to us legions of fans, for various reasons this has (too) often been the case.
For the purposes of this list, any decision to turn down a role in a Star Wars movie is considered a poor one, and also sacrilegious. Lesser profile actors who have not taken a role that was offered to them were particularly looked down upon in the construction of this list, while rejecting roles in the phenomenal original Star Wars trilogy was also frowned upon.
While we can only pity those poor souls who are forced to live with their dreadful decision, the the first entry on this list deserves no pity at all..
10. Leonardo DiCaprio - Anakin Skywalker
What on Earth was Leo thinking? Sure, turning down roles like Anakin Skywalker allowed for him to not be pigeon holed or typecast into specific roles. And yes, not appearing in the mediocre prequels may have helped him land roles in critically acclaimed films like The Departed, which lead to him being the most sort after actor on the planet. But this is Star Wars we're talking about!
If we're being perfectly honest, the anguish we feel towards Leo has nothing to do with his own regrets, but how much harm his decision did to the franchise. With all respect to Hayden Christensen, his interpretation of the man destined to be Darth Vader was dreadful, leaving us hating the character for all the wrong reasons. There's no doubt Leo would have smashed this role, which makes his decision all the more agonising.
With DiCaprio in the role, the 'I don't like sand' speech would have rivalled the great speeches of film history. Anakin's transition from nice guy to child murderer in the space of five minutes wouldn't have felt jarring at all with Leo in the role. In fact, the legendary actor's mere presence would have elevated all the dodgy CGI of the films to extraordinary heights.
Instead, Leo must live with the fact that his absence single handedly damned the Prequels, and ultimately instigated the beginning of the end for the Star Wars saga. Damn you Leo, damn you to hell!