Hayden Christensen thought he'd lose Anakin role in “Star Wars” to a big name like Leonardo DiCaprio

"Through the entire auditioning process I had told myself, from day one, that I wasn't going to get the part," the actor said. "It just wasn't a possibility."

Back when Hayden Christensen was auditioning for the coveted role of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels, he wasn't too sure that he was the actor they were looking for.

In a new interview with Empire magazine, the man who would be young Darth Vader said he thought there was no chance he'd get the part after learning that he was up against Leonardo DiCaprio "and a bunch of other actors."

"That just confirmed my thought that the role would go to another actor," recalled Christensen, 42. "Through the entire auditioning process I had told myself, from day one, that I wasn't going to get the part. It just wasn't a possibility."

While Christensen's lack of faith in landing the role may have been disturbing to some, the actor said it ultimately benefitted him. "I think that probably helped me a lot, because it just freed me up in a lot of ways," he said. "And so it really came as a surprise to me when I got the part."

When he finally got the call that he'd been cast, Christensen said that "the scope of the opportunity — the enormity of it all — was exciting to me."

"It was obviously a little daunting too, but there's a saying: 'Pressure is privilege,'" he mused. "I just felt very lucky to have it. I was really thrilled that I was gonna get to express [Star Wars creator George Lucas'] mapping out of how someone goes from good to bad."

DiCaprio has acknowledged that he met with Lucas about potentially playing Padmé's husband, but as the actor said in a 2015 interview, he "just didn't feel ready to take that dive. At that point."

In addition to Christensen and DiCaprio, there was a whole host of other performers vying for the role of Anakin, including Dawson's Creek stars James Van Der Beek and Joshua Jackson, as well as Eric Christian Olsen, Erik von Detten, Ryan Phillippe, and Chris Klein.

For interviews with the casts of Andor, Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, check out EW's Star Wars podcast, Dagobah Dispatch.

Related content:

• Hayden Christensen was like a 'giddy little boy' reading Ahsoka script

• Ahsoka awakens: Rosario Dawson's journey from 'hyped fangirl' to lightsaber-wielding warrior

• Rosario Dawson explains how Ahsoka was inspired by Gandalf

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.