Leo has recently revealed that he turned down the offer to play Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequals, as well as a few other big roles in superhero movies.
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He’s had loads of amazing roles. A ‘detective’ at an asylum, a slave-owner, a business tycoon, a man in an iron mask… but never a Jedi.
In a recent interview he said that he sat with George Lucas to discuss the possibility of playing he role of Anakin Skywalker in both Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith.
I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that, yes. I just didn’t feel ready to take that dive. At that point.
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Hayden Christensen ended up taking on the role, and, well, butchering it. Let’s be honest here, those films were fucking dreadful. Leo is an incredible actor, but would he have made the films better? Probably not. They were beyond saviour, and Leo could probably tell they were going to be shit and swerved them for that reason.
Leo also turned down the role of Robin in Batman Forever.
I never screen-tested (for the part of Robin). I had a meeting with Joel Schumacher. It was just one meeting and, no, I didn’t end up doing it. As I recall I took the meeting, but didn’t want to play the role. Joel Schumacher is a very talented director but I don’t think I was ready for anything like that.
Tobey Maguire could have missed his big break as Spiderman, too.
That (Spider-Man) 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.
But will he EVER play a superhero?
You never know, you never know. They’re getting better and better as far as complex characters in these movies. I haven’t yet. But no, I don’t rule out anything.
This is going to piss a load of nerds off, but I don’t actually like superhero films. And I do like Leonardo DiCaprio. So if he played a superhero, would I like it because he’s in it, or would I dislike him for being in it? I don’t know, or care – The Revenant looks amazing, and who knows, it might finally win him that elusive Oscar.
