After starring in the likes of Pacific Rim and the upcoming Rebel Moon, it's fair to say Charlie Hunnam is no stranger to sci-fi. However, the actor has now confirmed he came close to heading into a Galaxy Far, Far Away in the early 2000s.
Hunnam, who recently confirmed he turned down the role of Green Arrow in the DC Extended Universe, says he was in the running to play Anakin Skywalker in George Lucas' Star Wars prequels. The role ultimately went to Hayden Christensen, of course, but it appears Hunnam at least managed to reach the audition stage.
"That is true, yeah. I had forgotten that until you said that," he said of that process. "Years and years ago I met George Lucas. I got to the point where I was meeting George Lucas. I don’t think he meets a lot of actors, I think there were probably two, maybe three actors they were considering."
"I don’t remember much about it. I remember that I was nervous, I was a little bit awkward and I remember walking out and thinking 'Well, I’m definitely not getting that role.' And I was correct. Sometimes it’s about the vibes."
It's hard to imagine Hunnam playing Anakin at this stage, though an argument could be made he looks a little more like a young Sebastian Shaw (the actor who played the unmasked Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi) than Christensen.
Outside of sci-fi, Hunnam has gone on to make a name for himself in gritty fare such as Sons of Anarchy, The Gentleman, and Papillon.
As for Christensen, he's ready and willing to play Anakin Skywalker again if asked. "I would love to get to do more, I would love to get to continue with Star Wars. We'll see," he recently teased. "I don't know what the future holds, if such an opportunity presents itself, I'll be there with a big smile on my face. If it doesn't, I feel really grateful for getting to come back and do the work that I did, both in Obi-Wan and Ahsoka."
You can listen to Hunnam's Star Wars comments in full in the player below.
From Zack Snyder, the filmmaker behind 300, Man of Steel, and Army of the Dead, comes Rebel Moon, an epic science-fantasy event decades in the making. When a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival.
Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Mother World, Kora assembles a small band of warriors — outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge. As the shadow of an entire Realm bears down on the unlikeliest of moons, a battle over the fate of a galaxy is waged, and in the process, a new army of heroes is formed.
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire arrives on Netflix on December 22, 2023.