Dev Patel Auditioned For 'Star Wars,' But Notes That "Everyone Auditioned For Star Wars"
Scientifically speaking, there's an endless amount of parallel universes that account for every possible permutation and, by our calculations, at least 75% of them are about different actors who could've been cast in Star Wars (don't cite us on that number).
Dev Patel is the latest big name to reveal that he did, in fact, audition for "a Star War" once upon a time.
While speaking to Games Radar in advance of his upcoming turn in The Green Knight, he opens up about his brief brush with one of the most massive blockbuster franchises.
"But yeah, I think everyone did. Everyone auditioned for Star Wars. I remember, I think I was doing Marigold 2, and I sent them an iPhone video from my trailer in India. The next minute, I got a call-back, and I was there, and that was fascinating."
The actor doesn't give out any specifics, referencing the NDA that Lucasfilm makes every hopeful actor sign, but it's widely known that the studio embarked on a worldwide search for the role of Finn in The Force Awakens. Given his age at the time and his leading man screen presence, it's more than likely that this was the part in question. Of course, it ended up going to John Boyega and landed him squarely on the map.
The Franchise Question
Patel has quietly put together a strong and varied resume of his own, first appearing in Slumdog Millionaire, the Aaron Sorkin HBO series The Newsroom, the phenomenal bicultural (and based on a true story) Lion, and finally his upcoming role in The Green Knight. Things have largely worked out, all without having a major franchise to further boost his image. Since superheroes rule the world these days, Patel is inevitably asked about his interest in the movies:
"I mean, look, I'm not opposed to it. Those movies are a real spectacle when done right," Patel says. "I guess if I fit in these worlds... I don't know. The alchemy hasn't been right for me, personally yet. These journeys with people like David [Lowery, director of The Green Knight], and stuff like that, have really been the most nourishing.
I don't want to shit on those movies, because there are some incredible performers that manage to go off and win Oscars, and then go and do a big Marvel movie. And there are films like Black Panther that culturally changed the paradigm in massive ways. I liked the first Captain America. I thought that was amazing, the action in that. And so it's just finding the right one. It's being invited along, and also finding the right one. The ones that I have been offered, which I can't talk about, haven't quite worked for me."
Though he probably tips his hand more than he meant to, this seems pretty diplomatic to me. In-demand actors simply don't outright dismiss franchise filmmaking unless they wan't want to field angry calls from their agents, but Patel seems thrilled to stick with lower budget films.
Of course, now that I've said that we'll probably cover some breaking news that he's succeeding Daniel Craig as the next James Bond within the next month or so. (He's actually asked about why his name seems to come up so much in Bond discussions too, with his answer being, "I don't know why that is. I guess that I should take it as a compliment. But I feel like hasn't every young British actor been associated with Bond at some point, I'm sure?")
Until then, those in the United States can next see Dev Patel on the big screen with The Green Knight on July 30.