Leonardo DiCaprio is a name that hardly needs an introduction. The Hollywood star has been rising since he made his acting debut as a stepson of an evil landlord in a low-budget horror film Critters 3. Interestingly, it might be the first and only time he was involved in any type of film series, as the actor has maintained a deliberate distance from franchises throughout his career.
One such film series also includes George Lucas’ popular space opera Star Wars. The filmmaker wanted to cast DiCaprio in his Star Wars prequel trilogy, but he kept his stance and denied the offer.
Leonardo DiCaprio Was Offered to Feature in Star Wars
Starting with the 1977 film, Star Wars has expanded into a broad franchise, including movies, TV shows, books, and video games. The franchise is worth over $46 billion and is known to have featured several big names in Hollywood. One of these could also have been the Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio.
During an interview with ShortList, he shared that George Lucas offered him to play the role of Anakin Skywalker in the prequel trilogy. However, he denied the offer as he was not ready to take such a role at the time.
“I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that as well, yes,” he shared before adding that he rejected the offer for the same reason he denied playing Robin in Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever. “I don’t think I was ready for anything like that,” he shared.
He also added that he did not feel like taking that “dive” at that point in his career and passed on the role to the Canadian actor Hayden Christensen. Not only Star Wars, DiCaprio has been a potential candidate for several franchises and superhero movies, and despite declining several offers, he has kept his options open.
Leonardo DiCaprio on Playing a Superhero
Leonardo DiCaprio almost became the web-swinging superhero in James Cameron’s adaptation before Sam Raimi introduced Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man in the 2002 film. While he was also one of the candidates for the role in Sam Raimi’s adaptation, the Inception star shared that he was not ready to play a superhero yet.
“Er, that was another one of those situations, similar to Robin, where I didn’t feel ready to put on that suit yet. They got in touch with me,” he told the outlet. When asked if fans would ever get to see him as a superhero, DiCaprio stated that he does not rule out anything.
“I haven’t yet. But no, I don’t rule out anything,” he said, adding that he has been intrigued by the complex characters in such movies. Although he has not taken on a role in any superhero films so far, his statement keeps fans hopeful that they may witness him donning a superhero suit in the future.
The Star Wars prequel trilogy is available on Disney+.
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