Eddie Redmayne Auditioned for ‘Star Wars’ Kylo Ren Role

Eddie Redmayne auditioned for Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The 34-year-old actor is set to hit screens as Newt Scamander in the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them this month, but he has revealed he previously auditioned for the dark warrior part in the sci-fi movie.

The role of Kylo Ren – the movie’s antagonist – eventually went to 32-year-old Adam Driver, and Eddie has now disclosed the “ridiculous” details of his unsuccessful audition.

Speaking to Uproxx.com, the star said: “So, I was going for, I think, for [the same part as] Adam Driver. They gave me like a ‘Star Trek’ scene – or like something from ‘Pride and Prejudice’. 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 really a 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 [Darth Vader breathing sound] voice. And after like 10 shots she’s like, ‘You got anything else?’ I was like, ‘No.’ ”

Although Eddie didn’t score the Star Wars role, he isn’t too disheartened as his magical part in the Harry Potter series was something he had always been interested in, because he was “obsessed with magic” when he was younger.

He said previously: “There was this amazing shop called Davenports – the kind of shop where real magicians buy their tricks, the sort of place where you could buy the equipment to saw someone in half. It had a very Potter vibe, actually – it was in this slightly grotty subway beneath Charing Cross station in London. When I got cast in this film, my grandma was like, ‘I always knew you could play a wizard.’ She was thrilled.”