'Star Wars' Actor Thought He'd Lose His Role to Leonardo DiCaprio
George Lucas brought Star Wars into the 21st century with its trilogy of prequels at the turn of the millennium. In 2002's Episode II – Attack of the Clones and 2005's Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Canadian actor Hayden Christensen took on the iconic role of Anakin Skywalker, who would eventually become the villainous Darth Vader. And while it was a career highlight for Christensen, the actor confessed he didn't think he'd get the part—especially after learning Leonardo DiCaprio was also in the running for the role.
"It just seemed too big," he told Empire magazine of his thought process when auditioning for the movie. At the time, he was just 18 years old, and he tried to get his agent to find him roles that might be more fitting. "'Is there maybe another role that they’re also casting right now that you can put me up for? Because Anakin sort of seems unattainable,'" he recalled saying.
Leonardo DiCaprio was also up for the part, which only made Christensen doubt himself even further.
"That just confirmed my thought that the role would go to another actor," he said. "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. And I think that probably helped me a lot, because it just freed me up in a lot of ways. And so it really came as a surprise to me when I got the part."
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It turns out George Lucas actually offered DiCaprio the role of Anakin, but the Titanic star ultimately turned it down, telling ShortList in 2015 that he "just didn’t feel ready to take that dive."
Christensen understood DiCaprio's move in hindsight, and was grateful he ended up in the career-changing role. "I just felt very lucky to have it," he told Empire. “I was really thrilled that I was gonna get to express George’s mapping out of how someone goes from good to bad."