What if, after playing Jack in “Titanic”, Leonardo DiCaprio had lent his features to the legendary Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prelogy? The young actor had in any case met George Lucas at the end of the 90s.
Leonardo DiCaprio as Anakin Skywalker instead of Hayden Christensen? A few years ago, fans imagined what it could have looked like with a deepfake video. And as the actor himself confirmed in 2015 at the microphone of ShortListthis possibility could very well have become a reality if things had turned out differently.
Asked about the start of his career and the major roles he had refused, DiCaprio declared that he had declined several offers linked to rather substantial projects, starting with Batman & Robin:
“I never had a test. I met Joel Schumacher. It was only an interview, and in the end I didn’t make it”explained the actor, who was therefore offered to play the young sidekick of the Dark Knight alongside George Clooney.
“As I recall, I went to the interview, but I didn’t want to play the role. Joel Schumacher is a very talented director, but I don’t think I was ready for anything it’s in this genre.”
Lucasfilm Ltd.
It was therefore exactly the same scenario that happened again a few years later, when the director of Star Wars contacted Leonardo DiCaprio to offer him the role of the young Jedi in Attack of the Clones.
“I met George Lucas about this too, yes”confirmed the actor. “Again, I didn’t feel ready to dive into that. Not at that time.”
At this same period, DiCaprio also passed on the role of Peter Parker in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, finally taken over by his friend Tobey Maguire. Reluctant about the idea of joining a major science fiction or superhero franchise, the actor (who has never participated in any cinema saga, if we don’t count Critters 3) is therefore turned towards other major projects, notably the colossal Titanic.
Would DiCaprio’s career have been the same if he had played the future Darth Vader instead of Hayden Christensen? Would you have liked to see him don the robe of the young Jedi?
(Re)discover all the hidden details of “Attack of the Clones”…