Star Wars is one of the biggest franchises in the world right now. With several movies, Disney+ series, both live-action and animated, and even more media and lore on the way, Star Wars is still a cultural giant, 46 years after the first movie was released.
That’s a lot of pressure to live up to for incoming celebrities to take on, as John Boyega and Pedro Pascal can attest to. However, Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey Skywalker in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, has continued to take up the mantel, as she recently confirmed her return to the Star Wars universe. While both Ridley and Rey have become fan favorites, there was another actor who auditioned for the character who might not have been able to handle the pressure.
Courtney Eaton has risen to fame recently for her starring role in the hit Showtime series Yellowjackets. Premiering in 2021, the series follows a high school girls’ soccer team as they deal with a plane crash in the wilderness and struggle to survive. The show has received dozens of award nominations, including the Emmy Awards and the Critics’ Choice Television Awards and is now in its third season.
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Eaton had auditioned for the role of Rey for The Force Awakens (2015) early in her career. She was young and only had a role in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) to her name at that point. The star recalls her audition process, stating that she was worried it would be the end of her career. The Yellowjackets star had auditioned in front of J.J. Abrams, who had stepped up to take on the iconic franchise after working on the Star Trek reboot, and got so worked up she ended up having a full-blown panic attack in front of him.
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Disney had just bought Star Wars from George Lucas for several billion dollars, and with so much riding on the success of the upcoming films, it was enough to give anyone a panic attack. Eaton claims she was humiliated telling her agent what happened, sure that the experience would haunt her forever. While the force wasn’t strong with that audition, it didn’t have the lasting effect she thought it would, and instead paved the way for her current success.
Yellowjackets is currently one of the most popular TV shows, with a breakout cast and delightfully dark themes. Thankfully, Eaton didn’t let her unfortunate audition stop her from pursuing her dream, and as a result, she’s a star in one of the biggest hit TV shows of the 2020s.
Who else would you have liked to see as Rey? Share your opinions in the comments below!