Olivia Cooke Opens Up About Her 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Audition

Olivia Cooke is putting to rest a long-standing Star Wars rumor while sharing details about her actual experience auditioning for the franchise.

The House of the Dragon actress, 32, appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast and clarified that she never auditioned for the role of Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which went to Kelly Marie Tran. Instead, she went for a much bigger part: Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, ultimately played by Daisy Ridley.

"I did audition a few times for the other one, where Daisy Ridley got [the role of Rey]… The first one," Cooke said. "But, like, everyone and their dog auditioned for that."

She recalled the audition process, which included a session in Los Angeles and another with director J.J. Abrams. Reflecting on her performance, Cooke was candid about how things went: "I was s–t. I was really bad."

"I was just bad," she continued. "You know when you go into an audition, and you're just not bringing it, and you've let yourself down, you've let everyone down in the room?"

Despite her disappointment with her own audition, Cooke spoke highly of Ridley's casting. "Daisy did such an amazing job. I just wasn't that kind of actor at that time. It wasn't a fit," she said.