Charlie Hunnam Blew His Chance To Play Anakin Skywalker

The Big Picture

• Hayden Christensen’s performance as Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones was pivotal to the Star Wars franchise.
• Charlie Hunnam was considered for the role of Anakin Skywalker but missed out due to an awkward meeting with George Lucas.
• Despite initial criticism, Hayden Christensen’s recent appearances in Disney+ shows have solidified his importance in Star Wars.

While Hayden Christensen’s performance as Anakin Skywalker is now an acclaimed aspect of the Star Wars franchise, the casting of the younger version of Darth Vader proved to be one of the most pivotal decisions within the history of the galaxy far, far away. 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace had featured a much younger version of Anakin played by Jake Lloyd, but the second installment in the prequel trilogy required an older performer to play a more matured version of the character. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is Anakin at his most vulnerable; while he shows heroic traits reminiscent of Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, he begins to go down the dark path that will eventually turn him into a Sith Lord. Although Christensen earned the role of his career in Attack of the Clones, it was almost Charlie Hunnam who played the teenage Anakin Skywalker.

Charlie Hunnam Had a “Very Awkward” Star Wars Audition

Although The Phantom Menace earned a lot of criticism from Star Wars fans and the general public alike, the film’s groundbreaking financial success meant that George Lucas had the freedom to go in a more experimental direction with Attack of the Clones. Although it foreshadowed the eventual rise of the Galactic Empire under Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), Attack of the Clones was an intimate love story that evoked comparisons to William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. The relationship between Anakin and Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) served as the inciting incident for his eventual corruption and downfall. It is because of his love for Padmé that Anakin begins to desire more power and turn against the teachings of the Jedi Order and his instructor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor).

Given the importance of the role, Lucas considered almost every major young actor in Hollywood for the role of the eventual Dark Lord of the Sith. Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Phillipe, Paul Walker, Topher Grace, James Van Der Beek, and Colin Hanks were among the roster of young actors considered, but the future Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam was among the few performers that got to meet with Lucas himself. Although he was still a relative unknown at the time, Hunnam revealed to Variety that he was among the final “two to three actors they were considering.”

While he would later prove himself capable of playing dark, intense characters, Hunnam stated that he had “a very awkward” meeting with Lucas that took him out of the running. Hunnam suspected that his awkwardness cost him the opportunity to appear in the space opera franchise, and his suspicions were proven correct when Christensen was officially cast. While losing the opportunity to play one of the best villains in movie history may have been disappointing for Hunnam, he managed to rebound fairly quickly. The same year of Attack of the Clones’ release, Hunnam gave his breakout film role as the titular protagonist in the adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic adventure novel Nicholas Nickleby.

Hayden Christensen Was Cast As Anakin Skywalker

Although their careers took wildly different directions, Christensen and Hunnam were both relative unknowns at the time of Attack of the Clones’ production. Casting an actor with few prior credits as Anakin was important for Attack of the Clones, as the audience did not have any preconceptions about their personality going into the film. While Christensen gave one of his best performances a year prior in the family drama Life as a House alongside Kevin Kline, he was certainly less famous compared to contenders like DiCaprio or Walker.

While Hunnam’s meeting with Lucas didn’t go as well as he intended, being a part of the Star Wars franchise was not without its disadvantages. Christensen received significant backlash for his performance in Attack of the Clones, as many fans perceived him to be a whiny, obnoxious character. The actor effectively disappeared from the film industry following the release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005. Although films like the excellent 2003 journalism drama Shattered Glass proved that Christensen was an accomplished actor, it was challenging for audiences to differentiate him from his Star Wars role.

Despite the initial wave of criticism he received, Christensen’s importance in the Star Wars franchise was celebrated thanks to his appearances in the Disney+ shows. A younger generation of Star Wars fans that had grown up with the prequel trilogy considered Christensen to be as essential to the series as Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher had been to the original trilogy. As a result, Christensen’s recent appearances in Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka generated significant goodwill on his behalf. Christensen’s excellent performance in the most recent iteration of the franchise revealed that the flaws within Attack of the Clones might lie within Lucas’ dialogue, and not the actors.

Charlie Hunnam Returned to the Science Fiction Genre, Most Recently With ‘Rebel Moon’

While Hunnam may have succeeded in giving a slightly darker interpretation of Anakin, losing out on the Star Wars role ended up benefitting his career in the long run. Instead of appearing in major blockbuster epics like many of his contemporaries, Hunnam proved himself to be an actor that had range with his brooding, internalized performances. One of his earliest breakout roles was in Alfonso Cuaron’s dystopian thriller Children of Men; his grizzled performance suggested that Hunnam had the dramatic nuance to portray Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy.

Although he never got the opportunity to work with Lucas, Hunnam returned to the science fiction genre and worked alongside several noted auteurs. He appeared as Raleigh Becket in Guillermo del Toro’s kaiju epic Pacific Rim, a film with several visual parallels to the Star Wars series. Ironically, Hunnam’s most recent sci-fi role is in Zack Snyder’s space opera Rebel Moon, which was originally pitched as a Star Wars film before it was developed as an original feature for Netflix. Hunnam’s character, Kai, is a rogue smuggler that essentially feels like the Han Solo of the Rebel Moon franchise.

Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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