It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Harrison Ford as Star Wars scoundrel Han Solo (no offense, Alden Ehrenreich), but dozens, if not hundreds of other actors auditioned for the part. To name a few: Al Pacino turned it down at a time when he was “offered everything,” Burt Reynolds “just didn’t want to play that kind of role,” and Sylvester Stallone met with George Lucas but “I don’t look good in spandex holding a Ray gun.”
Christopher Walken also auditioned to play the Millennium Falcon captain, but he knew at the time that it wasn’t a good fit.
“I did audition [for Star Wars], but I don’t think I came remotely close to getting the job. About 500 other actors auditioned, so it wasn’t as if it was down to me and somebody else,” he told the Financial Times. Walken also brought up another ill-fated audition, in which he failed to land a part in 1970’s Love Story (it went to Ryan O’Neal). “In both those cases, I was lucky because I’d have been awful in them,” he said.
Star Wars and Love Story are two of the biggest movies of all-time when adjusted for inflation. But considering Walken’s movies have grossed a combined $4.4 billion at the box office (I bet you can’t guess what number one is!), I think he’s doing fine.
(Via the Financial Times)