Rebel Moon: Charlie Hunnam Recalls Star Wars Prequel Audition for Anakin Skywalker

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire star Charlie Hunnam recounted his audition to play Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

“I got to the point where I was meeting George Lucas, which…I don’t think he meets a lot of actors. I think it was maybe two, three actors they were considering,” Hunnam said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight while promoting Zack Snyder‘s upcoming sci-fi epic. “I don’t remember much about it. I remember that I was nervous, and I was a little bit awkward, and I just remember walking out and thinking, ‘Well, I’m definitely not getting that role,’ and I was correct.”

Hunnam, whose biggest acting credit at the time was the title role in 2002’s Nicholas Nickleby, was one of several young actors in contention to play the future Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequels. The relatively unknown actor went up against the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Topher Grace, Ryan Phillipe, and Jonathan Brandis. In the end, the role of Anakin went to Hayden Christensen, who recently reprised the role in the Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka shows for Disney+.

Though Hunnam lost out on a potential star-making part, his latest role as the mercenary Kai in Rebel Moon brings him full circle as the project originated as Snyder’s pitch for a mature Star Wars project to Lucasfilm. The studio ultimately rejected Snyder’s pitch to push forward on the Star Wars sequel trilogy. As Snyder was hard at work producing projects for the DC Universe, the director repurposed his original pitch into Rebel Moon with his sights set on an ever-expanding franchise similar to that galaxy far, far away.

What is Rebel Moon about?

“After crash landing on a moon in the furthest reaches of the universe, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a stranger with a mysterious past, begins a new life among a peaceful settlement of farmers,” the official synopsis reads. “But she soon becomes their only hope for survival when the tyrannical Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee) and his cruel emissary, Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein), discover the farmers have unwittingly sold their crops to the Bloodaxes (Cleopatra Coleman and Ray Fisher) — leaders of a fierce group of insurgents hunted by the Motherworld.”

“Tasked with finding fighters who would risk their lives to defend the people of Veldt, Kora, and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a tenderhearted farmer naive in the realities of war, journey to different worlds in search of the Bloodaxes, and assemble a small band of warriors who share a common need for redemption along the way: Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a pilot and gun for hire; General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a legendary commander; Nemesis (Doona Bae), a master swordswoman; Tarak (Staz Nair), a captive with a regal past; and Milius (E. Duffy), a resistance fighter. Back on Veldt, Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins), an ancient mechanized protector hiding in the wings, awakens with a new purpose. But the newly formed revolutionaries must learn to trust each other and fight as one before the armies of the Motherworld come to destroy them all.”

Rebel Moon hits Netflix on December 21, 2023. A sequel, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, is scheduled to release on April 19, 2024.