Remember whiny Anakin Skywalker? That dreadful Star Wars character who was even more angsty than emo Kylo Ren. The bratty dark lord was played by Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels. Despite that Christensen never even stepped foot on a real movie set, he was handpicked by George Lucas to play the young Darth Vader. However, that humongous role could have been played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
In a recent interview with ShortList, DiCaprio revealed that he passed on the opportunity to play Anakin Skywaler in the Star Wars prequels.
“I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that (Playing Anakin Skywalker) as well, yes,” DiCaprio said.
The interviewer asks the 41-year-old actor, “He wanted you, but you didn’t fancy it?” To which Leo replied, “Um, right. Exactly. Again, just didn’t feel ready to take that dive. At that point.”
DiCaprio probably made a wise decision to sit out of 2002’s Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and 2005’s Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. As for Hayden, that dude quit Hollywood after being Anakin Skywalker.
The Revenant actor also stated that he declined to play Robin in Batman Forever. “I never screen-tested. I had a meeting with Joel Schumacher, Leo said. “It was just one meeting and, no, I didn’t end up doing it.”
When he was asked he actually wanted the role, DiCaprio said, “Er, I don’t think I did, no (laughs). As I recall I took the meeting, but didn’t want to play the role. Joel Schumacher is a very talented director but I don’t think I was ready for anything like that.”
The role of Robin later went to Chris O’Donnell, and have you seen him in a movie in a decade? Nope. Another smart move by Leo.
He was then asked, “How close did you come to playing Spider-Man before your friend Tobey Maguire took the part?”
“Er, that was another one of those situations, similar to Robin, where I didn’t feel ready to put on that suit yet,” DiCaprio stated. “They got in touch with me.”
Maguire has only done one decent movie since Spider-Man, The Great Gatsby, and that’s only because it had Leo as the lead in the film.
Leonardo was asked if he’d like to play a superhero, and his response was:
You never know. You never know. They’re getting better and better as far as complex characters in these movies. I haven’t yet. But no, I don’t rule out anything.
In the interview, DiCaprio tells of how when he was 11-years-old an agent wanted to change his name to “Lenny Williams,” because Leonardo DiCaprio was too ethnic and he wouldn’t get as many acting roles. What an asshole. Lenny Williams is a shitty Hollywood name. You’re not buying a $16 ticket to a movie because Lenny Williams in starring in it.