Joseph Fiennes Almost Played Obi-Wan Kenobi In ‘Star Wars’

For all the faults that the Star Wars prequel trilogy had, one of the universally-beloved aspects of those films was Ewan McGregor’s portrayal as young Obi-Wan Kenobi. Stepping into the role made famous by Alec Guinness was no easy task – and yet, McGregor nailed it. He did such a great job, that hopes for a standalone Obi-Wan movie have been expressed by both the fans and McGregor himself. But before McGregor was cast, his fellow drama school colleague Joseph Fiennes was in contention for the role.

Joseph Fiennes, who stars in Hulu’s series The Handmaid’s Tale recently spoke with The Wrap about the series. He also discussed that he was pretty close to playing Obi-Wan Kenobi:

I auditioned for a great director.It was whittled down after many auditions to myself and another fine actor who I was at that time at drama school with.

Joseph Fiennes would then advance through the casting stage and eventually audition for George Lucas. One day, the actor met the director’s daughter. Lucas than introduced Joseph Fiennes to her as “quite possibly Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Unfortunately, Lucas’ daughter didn’t like Joseph Fiennes all that much:

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.

Inevitably, McGregor was of course cast in the role. Can you imagine how different the Star Wars prequels would’ve felt if Joseph Fiennes was stepping into the footsteps of Alec Guinness?

The next installment in the iconic franchise, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is written and directed by Rian Johnson. It stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (General Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Armitage Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Benicio del Toro (DJ), Laura Dern (Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo) and Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico). The film arrives in our galaxy on December 15, 2017.

Source: The Wrap