Yahoo News How Star Wars would have looked with its intended cast
Try to imagine Star Wars without Harrison Ford. Without Carrie Fisher. Without Alex McCrindle. (He played General Dodonna. Actually, forget Alex McCrindle.) Yet it nearly wasn't so.
Before it was shot, Star Wars was famously so low on studio 20th Century Fox's agenda that they gave George Lucas the merchandising and sequel rights in lieu of salary, thinking they'd save themselves $350k. (Whoops! They lost out on $1.6billion.) Little wonder then that loads of the 70s' biggest stars turned their noses up at the chance to play second fiddle to a walking carpet…
1. Han Solo: Al Pacino
"It was mine for the taking but I didn't understand the script," Pacino later said. Fair enough, he was the hottest actor on the block and could do what he liked. In The Godfather, he got to deliver immortal lines like "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."
Still, he could have got to say, "Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don't care what you smell!", so who's to say he made the right call?
2. Han Solo again: James Caan
Pacino's Godfather co-star was even sniffier about turning down the role, saying, "They didn't want an actor, that's why they got Harrison Ford." We're sure Harrison was gutted that he went on to make the Indiana Jones films, Blade Runner and The Fugitive instead of Mickey Blue Eyes.
Plenty of other actors auditioned for the role – Sylvester Stallone claims Lucas never even looked at him during his tryout, while Kurt Russell, Christopher Walken, Nick Nolte and even Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund all had a pop. Englund was too young for the role, but he did suggest to Mark Hamill ("this kid who was sleeping on my sofa after a six-pack of beer") that he try out for Luke Skywalker. And look how that turned out.
3. Princess Leia: Jodie Foster
"I was doing two films back-to-back at the time," Foster said (presumably referring to Taxi Driver and Bugsy Malone). "It would have been fun. But my career would have been different and I'm happy with the one I've got so I don't really regret it.
"And honestly, I was 14 or 15 at the time and it was when they were still conceiving those characters as very young. By the time they got to making it, they had a totally different conception of the film."
Which is kind of a relief, even though Jodie Foster is an amazing actress. No one wants to see a romance between Harrison Ford and someone nearly twenty years his junior. Except in real life, obviously.
4. Grand Moff Tarkin: Christopher Lee
The dark lord of everything wasn't interested in playing the biggest of the Death Star's bigwigs, but he did suggest his good Hammer friend and on-screen nemesis Peter Cushing for the role. Lucas finally persuaded him to join the Dark Side for Attack of The Clones, in which he played Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus.
5. Luke Skywalker: William Katt
William who? How soon people forget Big Wednesday and The Greatest American Hero. Katt had some corn-fed, boy-next-door buzz going for him in the mid 70s thanks to the likes of Carrie, but Mark Hamill ultimately had more of what George Lucas was looking for. But you can still see his audition, alongside Kurt Russell as Han…
6. Obi-Wan Kenobi: Toshiro Mifune
Obi-Wan's Japanese-sounding name makes more sense now, yes? In the ultimate case of fanboy wishlist casting, George Lucas was a huge devotee of Akira Kurosawa epics like Rashomon and Seven Samurai, and wanted the Japanese director's favourite leading man to play a part in his own project. Mifune's daughter claimed that her father – who Lucas also offered the role of Darth Vader – was worried that Lucas would make the samurai ethos look "cheap".
You Might Also Like
