Joseph Fiennes was almost cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the ‘Star Wars’ prequels.
The 46-year-old actor revealed he went to audition for the iconic role – which would have seen him star in ‘The Phantom Menace’, ‘Attack of the Clones’ and ‘Revenge of the Sith’ – in front of franchise creator George Lucas, but has said the role ultimately went to Ewan McGregor because George’s daughter thought Joseph was "weird".
Speaking to The Wrap, the actor said: "It was about 25 years ago and I auditioned for a great director and went to the studio. It was whittled down after many auditions to myself and another fine actor who I was at drama school with.
"I think he had just left and I snuck out to audition. I thought I gave a pretty good rendition of what was needed.
"I shook the hands of the director and he had his delightful child with him who was around 5 years old. He said: ‘This is Joe. He might possibly be Obi-Wan Kenobi’. I was like ‘Wow this is coming from the master himself’. She looked at me and went: ‘I don’t like this guy. He is weird. I don’t like him’. And that’s how my audition went."
The role of the young Obi-Wan Kenobi – which was originally played by the late Alec Guinness in the first three instalments of the franchise – was then given to McGregor, also 46, who went on to star in all three of the prequels.
Later this year, fans will get the chance to see the penultimate instalment of the main series, entitled ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’, when it hits cinema screens in December.
The movie will see the late Carrie Fisher make her final appearance as the iconic Princess Leia in scenes shot before she suffered a heart attack late last year, and will also star Daisy Ridley as Rey, and John Boyega as Finn.
Joseph Fiennes almost landed Star Wars role
