Star Wars: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Count Dooku
8. Christopher Lee Nearly Played A Very Different Role In Star Wars
Keeping with the iconic thespian who gripped the Prequels from the second he arrived on the Force-sensitive scene, it turns out that Christopher Lee very nearly rocked up in the galaxy far, far away as an entirely different but still notably despicable capacity.
Some 25 years before he donned the swishing cape and curved red lightsaber, Lee was actually in the running to play the slimy Grand Moff Tarkin, seen routinely keeping Darth Vader in check on board the Death Star. However, Lee would decide against committing himself to George Lucas' universe at that time, instead choosing to suggest his good pal Peter Cushing for the role of the high ranking Empire officer.
Cushing would, of course, absolutely nail the cold and clinical part of Tarkin. Yet, it is interesting to note how different A New Hope could've looked with Lee in the saddle of the superweapon's commander.
Lee and fellow Star Wars big bad actor David Prowse, who embodied the figure of Darth Vader, also appeared opposite Cushing as Frankenstein's monster in separate adaptations of the legendary monster mash.