In a galaxy far, far away, there was almost a different chapter in the Star Wars saga for Cameron Monaghan. Best known to fans of the franchise as Cal Kestis, the protagonist of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Monaghan’s journey into the Star Wars universe could have taken a very different path. During a panel at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto moderated by Kristin Finger, Monaghan opened up about his long-standing connection to the Star Wars series and his early attempts to join the franchise.

Monaghan’s love for Star Wars dates back to his childhood, a passion ignited by the original trilogy. “I always loved the movies growing up as a kid. I had the VHS box that was Darth Vader’s head of the original trilogy, and I used to watch those all the time. I would stare at that box with a lot of deference and admiration,” he shared. Like many fans of his generation, Monaghan was captivated by the epic space opera, even embodying the dark side during playground adventures. He told audiences:

“When we were playing on the playground, I used to pretend to be Darth Vader. I kind of had a Darth Vader thing for sure.”

Cameron Monaghan Wanted to Play Han Solo

Monaghan’s deep-rooted affection for Star Wars carried through into his career as an actor. “Star Wars was always very much a part of my childhood, and I desperately wanted to be in the Star Wars project,” he said. However, before he was cast as Cal Kestis, Monaghan had auditioned for two of the most high-profile Star Wars projects of the modern era. “Everybody and their grandmother had auditioned for The Force Awakens when that was casting,” he explained. “They did this worldwide search, looked a lot in the US and UK specifically, and I auditioned for that, made this little home movie tape for it, that nothing ever happened [with].”

Despite not landing a role in The Force Awakens, Monaghan didn’t give up on his dream of joining the Star Wars universe. His second attempt came when Phil Lord and Chris Miller were casting for the standalone Solo film. Monaghan recalls:

“Then when Phil Lord and Chris Miller were auditioning for the Han Solo project,
I ended up going back in a few times for that.
I was like, ‘Oh cool. Maybe this will be my opportunity. I don’t really look like Harrison Ford, but maybe.’ And that didn’t end up working out so I was like ‘well, I guess maybe that’s it. I missed my opportunity to be part of it.’”

While those early auditions didn’t pan out, Monaghan’s persistence paid off when he landed the role of Cal Kestis in Jedi: Fallen Order. Reflecting on the moment, he said, “Then when I got the audition for the game, that was a big opportunity and an honor.”

Stay tuned to Collider for more from FanExpo Toronto. Solo is available to stream on Disney+.

Solo: A Star Wars Story Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in an epic action-adventure that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes.Release Date May 25, 2018 Runtime 135 minutes Main Genre Sci-Fi Writers Jonathan Kasdan , Lawrence Kasdan , George Lucas Expand

Watch on Disney+