Eddie Redmayne auditioned to play Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

With Disney's STAR WARS franchise likely continuing on until long after we're all dead, every actor out there will probably get the chance to live out their fantasies of lightsaber battles and traveling through hyperspace at some point, or, at the very least, they'll audition for the chance to do so. Once the casting process for STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS got underway, many actors, both big and small, jumped at the opportunity to join up, including Eddie Redmayne of the upcoming FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM. The actor spoke with with Uproxx recently about his audition for THE FORCE AWAKENS and how it didn't exactly go as planned.

So, 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.”

And, as they say, that was that. Adam Driver was ultimately cast in the role of Kylo Ren and, in my opinion, did an excellent job with it. Who knows how Eddie Redmayne would have approached the role differently and whether it would have been any better, but his "ridiculous voice" comment brings back memories of his performance in the Wachowskis JUPITER ASCENDING; maybe we dodged a bullet. Redmayne likely isn't too broken up about missing out on being a part of STAR WARS as he's now about to headline his own franchise once FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM hits theaters on November 18th.