George didn't have time to wait 10 years for a 8 or 9 year old to grow up.

At minimum Anakin was going to be a pre-teen 12 year old.

And with MJ for Jar Jar.

Maybe he met with a then 20 year old Angelina Jolie for Padme as well.

Maybe he thought about Nick Nolte for Qui-Gon or a then mid 30's Kenneth Branagh for the original older Obi-Wan of The Beginning.

In an alternate reality we have Walken and others as the OT trio.

All I know is that JL and HC were AWESOME!! as Anakin as so that is all that matters.

George was right again.

As usual!

He's very boring that way.

 

...because Lucas felt he was right for the character he created.

 

^^ Was this the Leo as Anakin concept art you were talking about ???

 

Yep that's the one. Anyone know if it was genuine? Pretty decent.

 

I remember reading a newer article about DiCaprio's visit to Skywalker Ranch written a few years ago. Not sure where. But my take away was that it wasn't really about him playing Anakin. Leo was a big Star Wars fan in 1999. George Lucas's kids were big Leo fans in 1999. So basically Leo and his friends / family had the ultimate Episode 1 viewing experience when they got to spend the day with George Lucas and his kids at Skywalker Ranch. George personally gave them a tour of the ranch followed by a private screening of Episode 1. And George was the best dad ever when he invited the star of Titanic to hangout for the day. Everyone had a once in a lifetime experience.

 

Qui-Riv-Brid I hear ya, I just meant that I think the films would have benefited from starting TPM with an older Anakin in his late teens and having the same actor play him.

For what it was, I thought Jake Lloyd was fine in TPM but I think it would be more cohesive to start with an older Anakin.
And I did like Hayden in AOTC and ROTS, so I'm in the minority of people who liked him.

 

I think that Anakin drawing might be legit...I'll research it.... But production on Ep.2 was already beginning in May of 1999 (When TPM was being released).

Its very interesting to know how bad Lucas really wanted Leo in the role of Anakin.

 

I don't know that the benefits from one end would have been better than the cons.

It's far easier for a girl to be 17 then play 14, be 20 and play 24 and 23 and be 27.

A 17 year old boy can't really play even a 14 year old one and that simply is too old anyway with the way the story of the movies that Lucas settled on would work.

The stress of the child abandoning his mother is of the greatest importance.

 

Even if the drawing was official, it confirms nothing of the sort. As mentioned earlier, it would have been hugely out of character for Lucas to cast someone that well known to the films' target audience. Other character concept drawings for the PT were known to feature actors that, as far as we can verify, never got close to getting the parts in question. One can't deny that Di Caprio looked like an older Jake Lloyd... but that may have well been the only thinking behind it.

 

no.

 

Ryan Phillippe was on the Howard Stern Show a few years ago and said he really wanted the part of Anakin in Episodes 2 & 3, but was turned down because he was too old. I always thought he and Christensen looked so much alike that they could be brothers.

As far as Jake Lloyd is concerned, he was most likely hired because he fit the profile of the wide-eyed, yet rambunctious kid -like the one he played in Jingle All The Way- and more importantly, like Joey Starrett, the wide-eyed rambunctious kid played by Brandon deWilde in Shane (the classic western that was a big influence on TPM). Any resemblance between Lloyd and DiCaprio is due to both having baby faces. DiCaprio always looked a good 7-8 years younger than he actually was, which explains his popularity with adolescent girls -as well as middle-aged housewives with a scary May Kay Letourneau fixation.

 

They have similar features such as a round face with similar facial features too. Even older Jake Lloyd looks like Leo at that age too....

The interview of Phillippee wasn't too old, I think it was last year. He said he was thankful he didnt get the part hinting that the prequels sucked. I think he said "Yeah, i'm really glad I didnt get that one".