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Eddie Redmayne revealed Monday that he auditioned to play Star Wars villain Kylo Ren.
The 34-year-old English actor recalled his failed reading for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens role, which ultimately went to Adam Driver, in an interview with Uproxx.
"So, I was going for, I think, for Adam Driver," Redmayne said. "They gave me like a Star Trek scene -- or like something from Pride and Prejudice. It was one of those films."
"With films that top secret, they don't give you the actual lines. So they give you a scene from Pride and Prejudice, but then they tell you you're auditioning for the baddie," he explained. "If you're me, you then put some ridiculous voice on."
"[I read for] Nina Gold, who I have to thank a lot because she's cast me in several films. And she was just sitting there and I was trying again and again with different versions of my kind of 'koohh paaaah' [Darth Vader breathing sound] voice. And after like 10 shots she's like, 'You got anything else?' I was like, 'No,'" the star recalled.
Redmayne had told the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2015 that he had a "pretty catastrophically bad" audition for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but didn't reveal the role. Fans believed at the time that the actor had tried out for General Hux, played by Domhnall Gleeson.
"I went in and did this scene, and after, like, seven times of trying to play a baddie ... Nina was like, 'Anything else?' I was like, 'No, I want out.' [She said], 'I think we're going to have to agree to part on this one,'" he said.
Redmayne will next star in the Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which opens in theaters Nov. 15.
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Joe Manganiello on Ben Affleck's upcoming 'Batman' film: 'It's gonna be refreshing'
Joe Manganiello has opened up about Ben Affleck's upcoming solo Batman film, stating that the actor and filmmaker will be bringing new ideas to the Caped Crusader.
"When I met Ben we sat down and we talked about, you know, the role. We talked about the movie. His take is a fresh take but I think the audience is going to be surprised," Manganiello explained Monday on Mark Madden's podcast about starring in the film as DC comics villain Deathstroke.
"It's a road that no one's really gone down that's completely integral to, you know, who Batman is. And I think it's gonna be refreshing but at the same time completely familiar. But it's going to take this franchise in a direction that I think A LOT of people are going to be really happy about," he continued.
"It's going to be gritty and action packed and cerebral and all of those elements that people love about Batman."
Manganiello then praised Affleck for his directing and how also having him behind the camera elevates the film.
"Ben's a great director, man. I mean the last movie that man directed won best picture. He's got an Oscar for writing. Like, this is all the components to go down as a... everything is lined up for a really really really great movie. Not only a superhero movie but just a great great movie," Manganiello said.
Warner Bros. and DC have yet to announce an official release date for Affleck's Batman project, rumored to be titled The Batman.
Affleck first teased Manganiello's involvement in the film in August when he released a video featuring Deathstroke staring menacingly at the camera as he sported his signature blue and orange armor.
Deathstroke, aka Slade Wilson -- also nicknamed The Terminator -- was also created by artist George Perez. Known for taking on the Teen Titans and hunting down heroes for the right price, Deathstroke possesses incredible strength, reflexes, a brilliant tactical mind and the ability to regenerate.
Ezra Miller optimistic about 'The Flash' movie despite director's departure
Actor Ezra Miller says he remains optimistic about The Flash, even though director Rick Famuyiwa recently left the eagerly awaited project.
Asked at a round-table interview with reporters Monday how the change at the film's helm impacts his schedule, Miller replied, "It gives me a little time."
Pressed to divulge whether the superhero picture is expected to retain its anticipated release date of March 16, 2018, Miller confessed: "I'm honestly the worst person to ask. I'm terrible at keeping track of dates and numbers, but I know that we're still going pretty soon; probably will start this year.
"But it did mean that I have time to finish the fourth, studio album I'm making with my band and write another album I'm making on my own, which I hope to record in two months and to devote as much time and energy as I can to stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline, which is a movement I've been involved in for 10 months," Miller explained.
So, how does he feel about Famuyiwa's exit?
"Oh, sad, but understanding that these processes are complex. And that, from the media perspective, which is sort of removed from afar, these things can feel, I don't know, personal or dramatic. But this is, in fact, the process that films oftentimes go through. Teams get shuffled around on productions a lot. We hear about it when it's someone like an actor or director, but films are huge collaborations with sort of so many artists at once and it's people working together to try and find the best way forward and, so, I trust in those mysterious processes and would encourage other people to," he laughed.
The 24-year-old actor declined to reveal details regarding whether the movie will be an origins tale or will pick up after the story lines of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Justice League, in which his character appears.
He will be seen next week in the latest installment of the Wizarding World film franchise, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
LOOSE LIPS:
"You go from that life of vampires...then suddenly you're taking the garbage out and the kids to school, going to bed at 10:30. It's a dramatic change! In a perfect world you'd go to a place like astronauts and decompress for a few days before they let you out into the real world."
--Jon Bon Jovi, on returning home to his family after touring, in this week's issue of PEOPLE
??? Guess Who ???
Which writer/director is gonna helm the remake of 'American Werewolf in London'?
Scarlett Johansson goes invisible in 'Ghost in the Shell' teaser
Ghost in the Shell released a new teaser starring Scarlett Johansson on Monday.
The preview sees the 31-year-old actress wear The Major's iconic thermoptic suit, which allows her to land a powerful punch while invisible.
Ghost in the Shell is based on the manga of the same name by Japanese artist Masamune Shirow. The series follows a cyborg policewoman, known as "The Major" in the film, as she and her task force fight cyber crime.
Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders is helming the Paramount Pictures adaptation. The movie co-stars Pilou Asbek as Batou, with Michael Pitt as Kuze and Takeshi Kitano as Chief Daisuke Aramaki.
The Ghost in the Shell manga debuted in 1989, and inspired several animated movies and a television series. Fans were curious how The Major's suit would be depicted in the new film, as it makes her appear nude in the 1995 movie.
"We're not actually trying to pretend she's naked," producer Avi Arad told IGN last week. "The suit emulates some of the ideas of the panel lines. When you see it in the movie you're not meant to think that she's naked."
Ghost in the Shell opens in theaters March 31, 2017. Johansson is also slated for Rock That Body with Kate McKinnon and Zoe Kravitz, and will reprise Black Widow in Avengers: Infinity War.
Michael Keaton confirmed to be portraying the Vulture in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'
Michael Keaton will portray the villainous high-flying Vulture in Marvel and Sony's upcoming superhero epic, Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The confirmation of Keaton's role in the film was made by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige during an interview with the Toronto Sun about the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"We've had a wish list and most of them in the near-term are coming together. Cate Blanchett is playing Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. Michael Keaton's Vulture in Spider-Man is something," Feige said about upcoming villains set to appear in the MCU.
Despite being cast in the film back in May, Keaton's was never officially confirmed to be appearing as the Vulture amongst rumors that he was.
Keaton will be featured battling against Tom Holland's Spider-Man alongside a star-studded cast that also includes Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, Zendaya who is rumored to be portraying Mary Jane Watson, and Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man.
The film also features Hannibal Buress, Martin Starr, Logan Marshall-Green, Donald Glover and Angourie Rice in unspecified roles. Notably, Orange is the New Black star Michael Chernus joined the cast in August as villain The Tinkerer.
Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Homecoming is expected to swing into theaters July 7, 2017.
??? Guess Who ???
Which writer/director is gonna helm the remake of 'American Werewolf in London'?
Director John Landis' son Max Landis has signed on to write and direct a remake of a film he originally helmed, An American Werewolf in London.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Max will be joined by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and his partner on AMC's Walking Dead series David Albert who have joined the project as executive producers.
The original 1981 cult classic film followed a pair American backpackers as they travel across the English countryside until they are attacked by a werewolf. The encounter then transforms the only survivor into a deadly werewolf himself.
Max is known for writing the screenplays for Chronicle, American Ultra and Victor Frankenstein. The 31-year-old made his directorial debut with 2015's Me Him Her.
Max has also recently spearheaded BBC's latest detective series, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency starring Samuel Barnett and Elijah Wood.