Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them star Eddie Redmayne has revealed to Uproxx that he could have appeared in another major franchise last year, were it not for his “catastrophically bad” audition for Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
“They gave me like a Star Trek scene — or like something from Pride and Prejudice,” said Redmayne. “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. If you’re me, you then put some ridiculous voice on. That was a really hilarious moment, because it was 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.’”
Redmayne may have lost out on the role of Kylo Ren, but the Oscar-winner is set to lead Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling’s five-film franchise Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, with the first instalment hitting cinemas next Friday.
Originally published November 10, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
