If you are surfing the web these days, it is impossible to hide from the never-ending stream of Star Wars content. Maybe so much content that you’re absolutely stuffed to the brim. Maybe you are sick of the content—but we doubt it, considering you are reading this list. In addition, this is nothing new. Even in the pre-digital age, Star Wars was ubiquitous. George Lucas bought himself out of the conventional studio system on the back of merchandise. From toys to cereals to comic books to novelizations, it was hard to go to a store without seeing something related to the galaxy far, far away. In the aftermath of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith alone, Lucasfilm made 3 billion dollars off merchandise sales; 75 percent of what Lucas eventually sold the entirety of Lucasfilm for to Disney just seven years later. Suffice it to say, when Star Wars is in the conversation, it’s really in the conversation.
We all know who is in Star Wars. There’s that one guy, there’s that other guy. The guy who plays Indiana Jones is in it, so is the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series. The guy from Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting is in it and so is the woman from V for Vendetta. Remember Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis? Well, Llewyn Davis is in it too. The more interesting question is who isn’t in Star Wars? The answer is plenty of people. I am not in it, and it’s statistically very likely you aren’t either. I wasn’t even close to being in Star Wars, but in all seriousness, some very interesting actors almost were.
Check out our slideshow below! Did we miss any almost-stars of this beloved franchise? Be sure to let us know in the comments!
almost in star wars
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Kurt Russell (Han Solo)
The search for the original trilogy’s “big three” of Luke, Leia and Han was a wide search that went on for a while. One of the many, many actors considered for Han Solo before it was given to the effortlessly-cool Harrison Ford was Kurt Russell. He ended up not getting the role, as we all know, but luckily he went on to have a great career nonetheless.
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Leonardo DiCaprio (Anakin Skywalker)
When Lucas looked to recast an older Anakin Skywalker for Attack of the Clones, one of the actors who came into serious consideration was perennial superstar Leonardo DiCaprio. People will continue to relitigate Hayden Christensen’s take on the character until the oceans dry up, but it is hard to deny the tantalizing prospect of Leo taking on the role.
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Toshiro Mifune (Obi-Wan Kenobi)
It is no secret that in creating Star Wars, Lucas drew much inspiration from Akira Kurosawa’s work, especially The Hidden Fortress. In that vein, he also tried to hire one of Kurosawa’s most beloved collaborators, Toshiro Mifune. Lucas offered the massively talented—and by that time, aging—Japanese actor the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but sadly he turned it down.
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Tupac Shakur (Mace Windu)
The late Tupac Shakur died in 1996, but it has been widely reported that he was seriously considered for the role of Mace Windu. Whether he would have beaten out Samuel L. Jackson for the role is unclear and probably always will be, but it is an undeniably interesting alternate version of The Phantom Menace to consider.
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Orson Welles (Darth Vader)
Before they settled—or rather, lucked out—with James Earl Jones as the imposing voice of Darth Vader, Lucas and company discussed the possibility of Orson Welles, whose dulcet tones are never unwelcome. Ultimately, the decision apparently came down to Welles being to recognizable—and perhaps too expensive. Like Welles’ prospective role in another space fantasy film, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune, it was sadly not to be.
