It's hard to imagine Luke Skywalker being played by anyone but Mark Hamill in the original 'Star Wars' trilogy, but it very well could have happened. And according to 'Nightmare on Elm Street' icon Robert Englund, better known to audiences as Freddy Krueger, it might not have happened at all had he not once told a teenage boy about the part after coming home from a failed 'Star Wars' audition himself.

It seems like with 'Star Wars: Episode 7' hitting the screen next year, we're likely to start hearing some great "way back when" stories like these emerge. In an interview with Yahoo! Movies, Englund revealed that once upon a time, he had auditioned for the role of Han Solo -- can you picture the man we identify as Freddy Krueger playing Han Solo? Of course, back then, we didn't know him as Freddy.

Anyhow, Englund failed the audition, but goes on to explain how he tipped Hamill off about the part:

“I went home and told a little kid that was sleeping on my couch, after a six-pack of Heineken, all about [Star Wars], and his name was Mark Hamill. I said, ‘Hey, Lucas is doing this space movie. Maybe you’re right for it.’ The lead guy’s like a teenager, and Mark was playing teenagers then — Mark was playing high school kids, still. Mark got on the phone to his agent, and I think he went up the next day. He nailed it, and the rest is history.

If Englund hadn't caught wind of the Luke Skywalker role and given Hamill the tip, we might have had a very different 'Star Wars' trilogy. So thanks, Freddy Krueger! You helped shape pop culture history in more ways than one.

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