It was generally assumed that Redmayne auditioned for Domhnall Gleeson’s role, General Hux, but apparently he actually went in for Adam Driver’s role, Kylo Ren. Redmayne knew he was auditioning for “a baddie” but had to read from a scene from Pride and Prejudice because the script was so secretive. So with basically no direction, Redmayne tried a number of different, evil voices that apparently amounted to a series of bad Darth Vader impressions.
Redmayne says, “And [the casting director] was just sitting there and I was trying again and again with different versions of my kind of ‘koohh paaaah’ [Darth Vader breathing sound] voice. And after like ten shots she’s like, ‘You got anything else?’ I was like, ‘No.’”
In the end, it seems to have all worked out. Redmayne got his own, albeit different, massive franchise, Star Wars fans got Adam Driver’s excellent performance as Kylo Ren, and everyone avoided Redmayne’s goofy, evil voice—well, at least in that particular sci-fi movie.
