Star Wars: Joseph Fiennes Almost Played Obi-Wan Kenobi

George Lucas' daughter thought Joseph Fiennes was "weird."

By Alex Gilyadov

George Lucas' daughter cost The Handmaid's Tale star Joseph Fiennes the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace.

In an interview with TheWrap, Fiennes revealed that, after a number of auditions for the role, it was whittled down to two candidates: Fiennes and Ewan McGregor, whom Fiennes attended drama school with. After moving forward to the next level in the audition process and impressing both George Lucas and casting director Robin Gurland, Fiennes had to then meet with Lucas' young daughter.

Joseph Fiennes in Risen.

“The director had his child — a lovely, delightful child," Fiennes said. "Must’ve been around age five — and he introduced me, ‘this is Joe and he’s quite possibly Obi-Wan Kenobi.” However, that's when Fiennes' audition was ultimately ruined.

"His daughter turned around and said ‘I don’t like this guy. He’s weird. I don’t like him.' And that’s how my audition went,” Fiennes said.

The role eventually went to McGregor, who would star as Kenobi in three Star Wars movies. McGregor has recently expressed interest in reprising his role as Kenobi in more Star Wars films.

Audiences will return to a galaxy far, far away when Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters December 15.

Alex Gilyadov is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter. 

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