TIL Leonardo DiCaprio passed on the chance to play one of Star Wars’ most iconic characters

Leonardo DiCaprio has certainly had his fair share of stellar roles, but in a recent interview the acclaimed actor revealed he had a chance to play one of the most iconic roles in the Star Wars prequels.

Speaking to Shortlist, DiCaprio revealed had a meeting with director George Lucas for the role of Anakin Skywalker, but the actor wasn't quite ready to cross over to the Dark Side.

"I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that as well, yes," DiCaprio said. "[I] just didn't feel ready to take that dive. At that point."

The part eventually went to Hayden Christensen who interestingly also recently reflected on the role in an interview with The Los Angeles Times. I felt like I had this great thing in Star Wars that provided all these opportunities and gave me a career, but it all kind of felt a little too handed to me," Christensen said. "I didn't want to go through life feeling like I was just riding a wave."

Christensen rode the Star Wars waves for a few more years, starring in 2006's Factory Girl, 2007's Awake, and 2008's Jumper, among other projects; however, he decided to take a break between 2010 and 2014. He recently returned to the big screen in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven, opposite Kate Bosworth.

As for DiCaprio, well, it would've been cool to see his version of the young Jedi Knight in Episode II: Attack of the Clones and his transformation to the Dark Side in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Given that the prequels were very much a love story and DiCaprio, coming off Titanic and Romeo + Juliet, was very much an expert on the subject (and very much a teen heart throb at the time) he probably would've been a good fit for the role. But despite being an obvious step up from Christenson, I don't even think DiCaprio's acting chops could've saved the disastrous writing that ultimately plagued the prequels. I don't care how good of an actor you are, no one could possibly deliver this line with conviction.

It certainly would've been interesting to see what DiCaprio would've brought to the character, and how his career would've changed had he starred in the films; but, I'd say he got along just fine without Star Wars, going on to star in Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, and much more since.

DiCaprio most recently starred in The Revenant — now in theaters — which tells the story of legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass' survival in the wilderness after sustaining injuries from a brutal bear attack. You can read our review of the film here.