Midnight Mass star Rahul Kohli has revealed why he turned down the chance to journey to a galaxy far, far away.
Speaking with Empire (via Screen Rant), Kohli explained why he turned down a role in Star Wars despite being a massive fan of the franchise. "I became an actor because of Star Wars. George Lucas is my fantasy dad - along with Jürgen Klopp. I was cast in a Star Wars project - I won't say which - but I decided to do Midnight Mass instead," he said. "So, working with Mark Hamill [on Flanagan's upcoming series The Fall Of The House Of Usher] was like, 'Holy shit.' I was so anxious. But Mark just came over and said, 'Hey - there's the Star Wars fan!' and all my anxiety went. He's a legend. And House Of Usher will be great. It's bonkers, loud, in-your-face: very different from everything else Mike's done."
Kohli is an English actor best known for his role as Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti on iZombie, starring in all five seasons of The CW series from 2015 to 2019. He is also known for his appearances in multiple Netflix series created by filmmaker Mike Flanagan, including The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021), The Midnight Club (2022) and the upcoming The Fall of the House of Usher (2023). While the self-professed Star Wars fan didn't disclose which Star Wars series he would have starred in, The Book of Boba Fett was the only Star Wars project in production during the filming of Midnight Mass; however, this remains unconfirmed until either Kohli or Lucasfilm state otherwise.
The Star Wars Universe Continues to Expand
Since being acquired by Disney in 2012, Lucasfilm has further expanded the Star Wars universe into television, with five new and returning series confirmed for release on Disney+ just in 2023. The second season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch is currently being released weekly on the streaming service, with Season 3 of The Mandalorian set to debut in March 2023. The remaining three series -- Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew and Visions Season 2 -- do not have official premiere dates at this time but are expected to arrive later this year.
Star Wars is also gearing up for a return to the big screen. Lucasfilm has been actively planning out the franchise's cinematic return, with several promising features from Shawn Levy, Damon Lindelof, Taika Waititi and Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige in various stages of development. Rian Johnson -- who directed the controversial Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) -- is also still attached to write and direct his proposed Star Wars trilogy, which he has stated he hopes to begin working on once his schedule clears. Even Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron -- which was previously believed to have been shelved -- remains in active development at the company. At this time, Lucasfilm has not announced release dates for any of the upcoming Star Wars films.
Source: Empire, via Screen Rant