Timothy Olyphant is now a recurring presence in the Star Wars franchise thanks to his fan-favorite role of Cobb Vanth in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett where he appeared for a couple of episodes.
While his return to the live-action shows has not been set yet, a lot of fans are hoping that we will see more of him and, fortunately, the post-credits scene of The Book of Boba Fett hinted that his tenure in the galaxy far, far away might be far from over.
Several years before joining the franchise, the Emmy-nominated actor almost became part of another major space-based property as he was in contention for a role in J.J. Abrams' reboot of Star Trek.
While he didn't end up nabbing a major part in the 2009 blockbuster, in retrospect today, Olyphant still ended up having a thriving career as he would eventually star in the hit series Justified and is now part of one of the biggest franchises of all time with Star Wars.
Timothy Olyphant Discusses His Failed Star Trek Audition
In an interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via Variety), Olyphant opened up about his failed Star Trek audition where he shared his experience working with Abrams.
"Here’s what I can tell you about Star Trek: I went in and auditioned not for Captain Kirk, but I remember reading with J.J. Abrams and he’s just a lovely, lovely guy. And just a lovely, lovely audition process," he said.
"Somewhere in there, I was auditioning for Doc, he’s like, ‘I already got a guy for Doc, so I don’t need you for that, but I don’t have a Kirk.'"
Unfortunately, Olyphant, who was in his early 30s back when the film was in pre-production, didn't end up getting the role as Abrams and his team favored casting younger actors such as Chris Pine.
"I believe it was one of those things where it’s like they might have been prepared to hire me, but they wanted somebody younger, and [Abrams] was having a hard time finding somebody younger," The Mandalorian actor explained.
"And somewhere along the line, J.J. called and said, ‘I found a guy, younger, who’s really good.'"
You can argue that Olyphant could have done a great job playing either Captain Kirk or Dr. Leonard McCoy since he has the talent and charisma needed to successfully play the roles.
Also Read: The Mandalorian Actor Addresses Losing Major MCU Role
As we've already pointed out, things still went well for the Emmy nominee in the end since he ended up playing the now fan-favorite role of Cobb Vanth in the Star Wars franchise and he gave coolness to the character that would make him a beloved figure that he is now.
The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett are available to stream on Disney+.
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