Joel Edgerton says he lost out on 'Guardians of the Galaxy' role as he didn't understand film's tone

Actor Joel Edgerton says he couldn't crack the audition for the role of Star-Lord in 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy" as he never understood the tone of the popular film franchise. Chris Pratt eventually played Peter Quill/ Star-Lord in the superhero action comedy series, directed by James Gunn under the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Edgerton, who has starred in sci-fi titles such as "Star Wars" and its "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series, said Pratt was the apt choice to play the fan-favourite character.
"Star-Lord's a good one, actually, because I, unlike Chris, didn't quite sort of understand the tone of it the way he did and the way that those guys did and I wasn't really sure how I could be a part of that tone," Edgerton told Entertainment Weekly.
"And I truly think that the world is a much better place, I'm not Star-Lord, even if I had the opportunity or I did a good enough audition, because it is the way it's meant to be. There was never a real conversation that it would have definitely been me. It was just I had the opportunity to try and audition. I just didn't quite understand it," the 49-year-old actor added.
Besides Edgerton, Jack Huston, Eddie Redmayne, Glenn Howerton, and Adam Brody also auditioned for the role of Star-Lord.
The "Guardians of the Galaxy" spawned two sequels: "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017) and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (2023). The films also featured Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, and Pom Klementieff.