25 actors that could play Luke Skywalker next in Star Wars

21. Kurt Russell

If there was one name that had to be included on this list, it would be Kurt Russell. That is true because of his dense acting resume, but more so as one of the few actors to have auditioned for the role of Luke Skywalker himself.

Interestingly enough, Kurt Russell’s acting career got its rocket boosters in the 1970s through his relationship with Disney, long before its ties to Star Wars. It is believed that the last thing Walt Disney himself ever wrote was the words “Kurt Russell” on a piece of paper, and the company signed Russell to a decade-long contract from then on, even though he was only a child actor.

One of the roles that got Russell there, however, was ABC’s The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters. It was only a season-long, but the project Russell chose instead of Star Wars, indicating just how uncertain some were about the film’s probability of success. Russell said the following about his audition process back in 2017,

"[I was] interviewing for the part of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. On tape, it exists … I didn’t have any idea what I was talking about. Something about a Death Star and a Millennium Falcon. I was actually pretty [close], in the final running, but I needed to give an answer to ABC to do a western show."

He went on to joke, “Clearly, made the right choice.” And he did, as the rest is history with Russell’s career, but how interesting would it be were he to finally suit up as Skywalker himself.