LOS ANGELES, Nov. 9 (UPI) — Eddie Redmayne revealed Monday that he auditioned to play “Star Wars” villain Kylo Ren.
The 34-year-old English actor recalled his failed reading for the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” role, which ultimately went to Adam Driver, in an interview with Uproxx.
“So, I was going for, I think, for Adam Driver,” Redmayne said. “They gave me like a ‘Star Trek’ scene — or like something from ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ It was one of those films.”
“With films that top secret, they don’t give you the actual lines. So they give you a scene from ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ but then they tell you you’re auditioning for the baddie,” he explained. “If you’re me, you then put some ridiculous voice on.”
“[I read for] Nina Gold, who I have to thank a lot because she’s cast me in several films. And she was just sitting there and I was trying again and again with different versions of my kind of ‘koohh paaaah’ [Darth Vader breathing sound] voice. And after like 10 shots she’s like, ‘You got anything else?’ I was like, ‘No,'” the star recalled.
Redmayne had told the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in 2015 that he had a “pretty catastrophically bad” audition for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” but didn’t reveal the role. Fans believed at the time that the actor had tried out for General Hux, played by Domhnall Gleeson.
“I went in and did this scene, and after, like, seven times of trying to play a baddie … Nina was like, ‘Anything else?’ I was like, ‘No, I want out.’ [She said], ‘I think we’re going to have to agree to part on this one,'” he said.
Redmayne is known for “Les Miserables,” “The Theory of Everything” and “The Danish Girl.” He will next star in the “Harry Potter” spinoff “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which opens in theaters Nov. 15.
