George Lucas’ daughter may have cost Joseph Fiennes the role of Obi-Wan

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

It's hard to imagine anyone other than Ewan McGregor playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in the STAR WARS prequel trilogy, but at one point, the role could very well have gone to Joseph Fiennes (The Handmaid's Tale). While speaking with The Wrap about his most memorable audition story, Fiennes revealed that the final audition for the role of Obi-Wan in STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE was between Ewan McGregor and himself, that is, until George Lucas' young daughter had her say.

It was whittled down after many auditions to myself and another fine actor who I was at that time at drama school with … I thought I gave a pretty good rendition of what was needed, and I shook the hand of the director and the director had his child, a lovely, delightful child, must’ve been around age five, and he introduced me, ‘this is Joe and he’s quite possibly Obi-Wan Kenobi. And I thought 'wow that's coming from the master himself.' And then his daughter turned around and said ‘I don’t like this guy. He’s weird. I don’t like him.’ And that’s how my audition went.

It's hard to tell what part, if any, George Lucas' daughter really played in Joseph Fiennes not landing the role of Obi-Wan, but it's a fun little story regardless. Who knows, in some alternate universe, Joseph Fiennes could be the one being asked about an Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off for the hundredth time. Fiennes is currently starring alongside Elizabeth Moss in The Handmaid's Tale. Based upon Margaret Atwood's novel, the Hulu series takes place in a dystopian near-future in which a totalitarian and Christian fundamentalist government rules the former United States and sets up "a new, militarized, hierarchical regime of Bible-inspired social and religious fanaticism and newly-created social classes, in which women are brutally subjugated, and by law are not allowed to work, own property, control money, or read." The Handmaid's Tale was recently renewed for a second season which will debut in 2018.

Could you see Joseph Fiennes as Obi-Wan Kenobi, or did George Lucas' daughter make the right call?