Charlie Hunnam Opens Up About Being a Finalist to Play Anakin Skywalker in the ‘Star Wars’ Prequels

Christian Blauvelt
·2 min read
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Well, by starring in “Rebel Moon,” which Zack Snyder originally pitched to Lucasfilm as a “Star Wars” movie before making it his own thing after the studio rejected it, Charlie Hunnam is at least getting a little taste of that galaxy far, far away.

But Hunnam was once up for one of the biggest “Star Wars” roles of all: Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Knight who’d become Darth Vader. The role ultimately went to Hayden Christensen, but in a new interview with ET’s Ash Crossan, the actor talks about how he actually met with George Lucas for the role. Though at first, he had a little trouble remembering that he was even up for the part.

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“I had forgotten that too, but yes, I did. I got to the point where I was meeting George Lucas, you know? Which… I don’t think he meets a lot of actors,” Hunnam said. “I think it was probably, maybe, two to three actors they were considering. I don’t remember much about it.”

Among those other actors Lucas was considering at the time were Ryan Phillippe and Paul Walker — though the name that was talked about the most circa 1999 and 2000, when Lucas was casting the role for “Attack of the Clones” was Leonardo DiCaprio, who ultimately didn’t want to be associated with another massive blockbuster property following his “Titanic” megastardom.

For his part, Hunnam recalls being nervous about meeting the “Star Wars” creator.

“And I just remember it being a very awkward meeting and walking out and thinking, ‘Well, I’m definitely not [getting the] role.’ And I was correct,” he joked. “Sometimes it’s about the vibes.”

He shouldn’t feel bad about having an awkward meeting with Lucas, though — even David Lynch did back around 1980 when he met with the mogul to talk about possibly directing “Return of the Jedi.” That meeting culminated in Lucas taking Lynch to a restaurant near the Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California that served only salad and Lynch literally coming down with a massive headache.

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