--- title: Why Leonardo DiCaprio Turned Down Star Wars description: Leo dished about other roles he turned down, like Peter Parker in 'Spider Man' canonical: https://time.com/4164120/leonardo-dicaprio-turned-down-star-wars/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-30T14:49:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:42:17.055Z og:title: Why Leonardo DiCaprio Turned Down 'Star Wars' og:description: The actor revealed other roles he turned down, like Peter Parker in 'Spider Man' og:url: https://time.com/4164120/leonardo-dicaprio-turned-down-star-wars/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd24b6d4b29547ce0/6988772a196cf41257039a68/leo-dicaprio-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: leo-dicaprio-star-wars og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Leonardo DiCaprio Turned Down 'Star Wars' twitter:description: The actor revealed other roles he turned down, like Peter Parker in 'Spider Man' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd24b6d4b29547ce0/6988772a196cf41257039a68/leo-dicaprio-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Leonardo DiCaprio Turned Down _Star Wars_ by [Naja Rayne / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Naja Rayne / People Contributor Dec 30, 2015 2:49 PM UTC  <> at TCL Chinese Theatre on December 16, 2015 in Hollywood, California. <> at TCL Chinese Theatre on December 16, 2015 in Hollywood, California.Frazer Harrison-- Getty Images by [Naja Rayne / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Naja Rayne / People Contributor Dec 30, 2015 2:49 PM UTC Can you imagine [Leonardo DiCaprio](http://www.people.com/people/leonardo%5Fdicaprio/), as a young heroic Jedi Knight? In a recent interview with [ShortList](http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/dicaprio-interview), DiCaprio reveals it was almost a possibility, until he turned down the chance to play Anakin Skywalker in the _Star Wars_ prequels. “I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that, yes,” the 41-year-old said. “\[I\] just didn’t feel ready to take that dive. At that point.” The role eventually went to Hayden Christensen. _The Revenant_ star also dished on other roles he had conversations about, but never actually took on, saying that he didn’t feel prepared for those at the time either. Some of the roles include Robin in _Batman Forever_ and Peter Parker in _Spider-Man_. While he may have passed on some big roles, the Oscar nominee is open to other potential blockbusters in the future, including playing a superhero. “You never know. You never know,” he said. “They’re getting better and better as far as complex characters in these movies. I haven’t yet. But no, I don’t rule out anything.” Regardless of what he takes on next, DiCaprio told ShortList he’s learned from his experiences working with some of the credits and says that he feels luck to have just been given a chance in this industry. “It’s sometimes emotional watching \[What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and This Boy’s Life\] because I feel like I’m that kid again,” he said. “Really just incredibly happy to have gotten a shot. So I remember a lot of those moments on set like they were yesterday, especially working with people like De Niro and \[Johnny\] Depp at that age. “It was like winning the lottery.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/leonardo-dicaprio-talks-about-the-roles-he-gave-up) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://people.com)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4164120/leonardo-dicaprio-turned-down-star-wars/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4164120/leonardo-dicaprio-turned-down-star-wars/"},"headline":"Why Leonardo DiCaprio Turned Down Star Wars","datePublished":"2015-12-30T14:49:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:42:17.055Z","description":"The actor revealed other roles he turned down, like Peter Parker in Spider Man","url":"https://time.com/4164120/leonardo-dicaprio-turned-down-star-wars/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Star Wars","Leonardo DiCaprio","celebrity","Spider-Man"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd24b6d4b29547ce0/6988772a196cf41257039a68/leo-dicaprio-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naja Rayne / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd24b6d4b29547ce0/6988772a196cf41257039a68/leo-dicaprio-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"leo-dicaprio-star-wars","caption":"leo-dicaprio-star-wars","creditText":"Frazer Harrison-- Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4164120/leonardo-dicaprio-turned-down-star-wars/","name":"Why Leonardo DiCaprio Turned Down Star Wars"}}]}] ```