{"id":656426,"date":"2026-06-24T22:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T22:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/656426\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T22:04:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T22:04:21","slug":"every-actor-who-officially-auditioned-for-the-star-wars-sequel-trilogy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/656426\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Actor Who Officially Auditioned for the ‘Star Wars’ Sequel Trilogy"},"content":{"rendered":"

By George & Josh Bate<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

House of the Dragon star Olivia Cooke made headlines this week for revealing that she auditioned to play Rey in the Star Wars<\/a> sequel trilogy, an audition she succinctly described as \u201cshit.\u201d But Cooke is far from the only actor who has confirmed that they auditioned to play a key role in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.<\/p>\n

Here is every actor who officially auditioned to play a part in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.<\/p>\n

Olivia Cooke \u2013 Rey<\/p>\n

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As stated, Olivia Cooke told Joshua Horwitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast<\/a> that she auditioned to play Rey in the sequel trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shit,\u201d Cooke explained. \u201cI was really bad. You know when you go into an audition, and you\u2019re just not bringing it,\u201d Cooke explained. \u201cYou\u2019ve let yourself and everyone down in the room. Daisy did such an amazing job. I just wasn\u2019t that kind of an actor at that time. You know, it wasn\u2019t a fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica Henwick \u2013 Rey<\/p>\n

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Another Game of Thrones universe alum also was under consideration for the role of Rey.<\/p>\n

Jessica Henwick, who played Nymeria Sand in Game of Thrones and is best known for her role as Colleen Wing in Iron Fist, discussed how she auditioned for Rey in an interview with Radiotimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look back now and realise it was for the best,\u201d Henwick said. \u201cI don\u2019t think I am the type of person who would be able to handle that level of exposure that fast. I much prefer the slow burn.\u201d<\/p>\n

BIllie Lourd \u2013 Rey<\/p>\n

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Before being cast as Kaydel Ko Connix, Carrie Fisher\u2019s daughter Billie Lourd was up for the role of Rey in the sequel trilogy.<\/p>\n

In an interview on The Ellen Show<\/a>, Lourd said, \u201cJ.J. Abrams called me to come in for \u2018Star Wars\u2019 because he couldn\u2019t find someone for the lead,\u201d she explained. \u201cI went in and he ended up giving me this tiny role with a couple lines and I was super excited. I didn\u2019t know what was going to happen, ended up going and fell in love with it \u2014 was weirdly singing Jersey Boys on set, really comfortable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saoirse Ronan \u2013 Rey<\/p>\n

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Four-time Academy Award winner Saoirse Ronan also auditioned to play Rey.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Empire Magazine<\/a>, Ronan revealed, \u201c\u201cYeah, I did [audition for Star Wars Episode VII]\u2026 I don\u2019t know whether I should have said that now! I mean, everyone did. Everyone has auditioned for it. So many people I know have gone in for the part I\u2019ve gone in for, and guys who\u2019ve gone in for a particular part, so I\u2019d imagine J.J. is probably just scanning the earth to find the people that he needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eiza Gonz\u00e1lez \u2013 Rey<\/p>\n

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Eiza Gonz\u00e1lez also opened up about how she put her name in the hat to play Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.<\/p>\n

I had a callback, and then I didn\u2019t really know what I was auditioning for, and then I had another callback, and I was like, \u2018What is happening?\u2019\u201d explained Gonz\u00e1lez on Jesse Tyler Ferguson\u2019s Dinner on Me podcast<\/a>. \u201c And then, long story short, it turned out I was auditioning for Star Wars, for The Force Awakens. I didn\u2019t know what I was doing. I had no idea it was Star Wars until I walked in and saw J.J. Abrams. \u2018I was like, ohhh, this is big.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Holland \u2013 Finn<\/p>\n

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Spider-Man actor Tom Holland told Backstage<\/a> that he auditioned to play Finn in the Star Wars sequels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember my audition for Star Wars, I was like four or five auditions in, and I think I was auditioning for John Boyega\u2019s role,\u201d recalled Holland. \u201cI remember doing this scene with this lady, bless her, and she was just a drone. So I was doing all of this, like, \u201cWe gotta get back to the ship!\u201d And she was going, \u201cBleep, bloop bloop, bleep bloop.\u201d I just couldn\u2019t stop laughing. I found it so funny. And I felt really bad, because she was trying really hard to be a convincing android or drone or whatever they\u2019re called. Yeah, I obviously didn\u2019t get the part. That wasn\u2019t my best moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesse Plemons \u2013 Finn<\/p>\n

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Jesse Plemons auditioned for a lead role in the sequel trilogy, heavily rumored to be Finn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went in, gave a terrible audition,\u201d Plemons told The Independent<\/a>. \u201cI had no idea what I was doing\u2026 it was just these scenes without any context. J.J. Abrams was really nice, but I was spiralling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael B. Jordan \u2013 Finn<\/p>\n

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Academy Award winner Michael B. Jordan reportedly read for the role of Finn in the sequel trilogy. Jordan described it as \u201cprobably my worst audition to date.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was I couldn\u2019t wrap my brain around some of the sides because you know when you\u2019re reading for these high-level projects, there\u2019s never really any specificity in the sides,\u201d Jordan told Variety<\/a>. \u201cEverything\u2019s like super vague; everything is in secret. Reading through, I just couldn\u2019t connect it. I definitely bombed that one for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Fassbender \u2013 Poe Dameron<\/p>\n

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Michael Fassbender opened up about being in the running for a lead role in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Fassbender denied that the role was for Kylo Ren, leaving Poe Dameron as the logical remaining role that he auditioned for.<\/p>\n

On the Happy Sad Confused podcast<\/a>, Fassbender joked, \u201cIt was Yoda\u2019s grandfather; he never made it into the actual movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eddie Redmayne \u2013 Kylo Ren<\/p>\n

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The only officially confirmed to have auditioned to play Kylo Ren, other than Adam driver, is Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Uproxx<\/a>, Redmayne described his audition. \u201cThey gave me like a \u2018Star Trek\u2019 scene \u2014 or like something from \u2018Pride and Prejudice,\u2019\u201d he explained. \u201cIt was one of those films. With films that top secret, they don\u2019t give you the actual lines. So they give you a scene from \u2018Pride and Prejudice,\u2019 but then they tell you you\u2019re auditioning for the baddie. If you\u2019re me, you then put some ridiculous voice on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really a hilarious moment. Because it was Nina Gold \u2014 who I have to thank a lot because she\u2019s cast me in several films \u2014 and she was just sitting there and I was trying again and again with different versions of my kind of \u2018koohh paaaah\u2019 [Darth Vader breathing sound] voice,\u201d Redmayne continued. \u201cAnd after like 10 shots she\u2019s like, \u2018You got anything else?\u2019 I was like, \u2018No.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By George & Josh Bate House of the Dragon star Olivia Cooke made headlines this week for revealing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-656426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}