Did you know that one of the actors considered for the role of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels was Leonardo DiCaprio? In an interview with ShortList, the actor opened up on why he turned down the chance to play the lead role in two of the three prequels 2002 "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" and 2005 "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," an article on E! Online revealed.
"The Revenant" actor said, "I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that, yes."
"I just didn't feel ready to take that dive. At that point." Considered for the part was Hayden Christensen instead who also had an interview regarding his Star Wars role but this time with The Los Angeles Times. "I felt like I had this great thing in Star Wars that provided all these opportunities and gave me a career, but it all kind of felt a little too handed to me," the actor said of joining the blockbuster film franchise 13 years ago. "I didn't want to go through life feeling like I was just riding a wave."
Christensen had a lot of great movies after his Star Wars roles such as "Factory Girl," "Awake" and "Jumper" after which he took a break from 2010 to 2014. His role in "90 Minutes in Heaven" opposite Kate Bosworth was his comeback after his hiatus. Hayden also welcomed his daughter with Rachel Bilson in 2014.
"You can't take years off and not have it affect your career," Christensen said. "But I don't know, in a weird, sort of destructive way, there was something appealing about that to me. There was something in the back of my head that was like, 'If this time away is gonna be damaging to my career, then so be it. If I can come back afterward and claw my way back in, then maybe I'll feel like I earned it.'"
On the other hand, Leonardo has earned his place in the industry with one chart-busting movie at a time. From Titanic to The Wolf of Wall Street, he has become one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. Apart from the role of Anakin Skywalker, DiCaprio also turned down other blockbuster roles such as Robin for Batman Forever in 1995.
"I never screen-tested. I had a meeting with Joel Schumacher. It was just one meeting and, no, I didn't end up doing it." The role of Robin later went to Chris O'Donnell.
He added "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."
But will he ever be ready to take on super hero roles? "You never know. You never know. They're getting better and better as far as complex characters in these movies. I haven't yet," the veteran actor said.
"But no, I don't rule out anything."
