Eddie Redmayne is set to bow in JK Rowling’s highly-anticipated Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but the actor has revealed he was also close to joining the Star Wars universe.
Redmayne, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, divulged details of his botched Star Wars audition during an interview with UPROXX.
“I was going for, I think, for Adam Driver. They gave me like a Star Trek scene – or like something from Pride and Prejudice. It was one of those films. With films that top secret, they don’t give you the actual lines. So they give you a scene from Pride and Prejudice, but then they tell you you’re auditioning for the baddie. If you’re me, you then put some ridiculous voice on.
“That was really a hilarious moment. Because it was Nina Gold, who I have to thank a lot because she’s cast me in several films. And she was just sitting there and I was trying again and again with different versions of my kind of “koohh paaaah” [Darth Vader breathing sound] voice. And after like ten shots she’s like, “You got anything else?” I was like, “No.””
Having seen The Force Awakens multiple times, it’s difficult to imagine anyone other than Driver in the role, especially with memories of Redmayne’s scenery-chewing performance in sci-fi flop Jupiter Ascending not yet fully diminished. Hopefully the British actor will flex his dramatic muscles more in the magical surroundings of Rowling’s wizarding world.
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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