What other actors were considered for the Prequel roles?

Overall, I think Lucas and his team did a pretty good job of casting the roles (I even happen to think that there weren't many other 9 or 10 year olds that looked the part that could have done a better job than Jake Lloyd). However, it's always interesting to hear what other actors/actresses were considered. Anyone know who else was up for:

Young adult Anakin
Child Anakin
Qui-Gon
Obi-wan
Padme

 

Thousands of actors tried out for both Anakin roles. I can't remember the other two for the young Anakin role, but I do know that two for the adult Anakin role were Tom Hank's son (can't remember his first name) and James Franco.

EDIT: Oh, and I believe that the Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson were Lucas' first choices for their respective roles.

 

I seem to remember reading that Bijou Phillips was considered for Padme at one point. If it's true, I'm glad they didn't choose her.

 

The TPM DVD special features disc has a documentry that includes shots of the final three actors trying out for the "young Anakin" role. I don't recall any names but they show clips from the auditions.

 

I also heard rumors of Leonardo DiCaprio which made me cringe. Oh also Tom Hanks son's name is Colin.

 

Oh, yes. I forgot about DiCrapio.

 

in a way im glad it wasnt leo.

buuuttt makes one wonder what how the AOTC and RotS would have gone (in terms of acting and such) if leo did play ani.

 

I just read something interesting on IMDB. They claim that Benicio Del Torro was originally cast as Darth Maul but dropped out when Lucas cut most of the character's lines.

 

was keira knightley ever considered for padme ?? i've heard about it a lot but i dont know if its true or rumors.

 

I never heard that she was considered, but she did play Padme's decoy in The Phantom Menace.

 

yes i know,she played sabé but i had heard that she was considered for padme,but as i said before they could very well be rumors

 

kiera knightly would have been awesome, plus her accent would have matched everyone elses from naboo, and just out of curiosity why does everyone think against leonardo dicaprio. personally i think he is one of the best actors his age out there, but he might not have fit with the rest of the cast.

 

I don't think any of us know for sure who all auditioned for what part, but I'm sure they could've found some more "qualified" actors than Lloyd, Portman, and Christensen.

 

im ok with both natalie as padme and hayden as anakin.i wouldnt like one bit keira as padme or leo as anakin

 

I don't really have anything against DiCaprio but I just don't think he could have pulled of the darker ROTS Anakin. He probably would have matched up better with Natalie Portman in AOTC but I wouldn't want to trade that for the role Hayden played in ROTS. I do think Keira could have pulled off Padme quite well. Nothing against Natalie, I think she was very good in ROTS.

 

Natalie Portman is a good actress, It just didnt show in Star Wars. Kiera Knightly looks just like Natalie Portman (hence why she made a good body double in TPM) but I don't think her acting is as good (given that the only movies I've seen her in has been PotC, and King Arthur. It will be interesting to see how she does in Pride and Predjudice.. but thats for The Ampitherther.) So, that said, I think Portman was a good choice.

I simply love Ewan as Obi-Wan. "Nuff said.

I really did not like Hayden Christansen. I thought he sucked in AotC, and then when they put him in RotJ, I was just like, NOOOOOOOO!! I will say though, that when he needed to be the bad guy in RotS, he did pretty well. Just dont cast him in a love story.

As for Jake Lloynd... Child actors are tuff. You can't expect a 10 y/o to be the best actor on the face of the planet. I think he fits in well for his role. Looks are very important in a story line that has to do with family. You have to make the transition from 9 y/o, to 19 y/o, to 23 y/o, to a 20 y/o son pretty well for it to be believeable. Since they couldent cast the older Ani untill they had a younger Ani, Lloyd is an important actor in that sense. This is one benefit of having one actress for the other side of the geneology. But anyway, while his acting may not have been that good, neither was the action of many others in that movie.

 

I liked Natalie Portman in Garden State. Keira has the action movie Background I just wonder what the chemistry between her and Hayden would have been like. I don't think it was very good which is why I think the love scenes suffered(apart from the dialouge) but I won't get into that.