Eddie Redmayne auditioned to play Tom Riddle in Harry Potter sequel

Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne auditioned to play a key role in the Harry Potter film franchise, but "properly failed".

The Danish Girl star, who is now the lead in Potter creator J.K. Rowling's new spin-off movie series Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, has revealed he once competed for the role of Tom Riddle - the character that became villain Lord Voldemort - in Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets.

"I actually auditioned to play Tom Riddle when I was back at university," he explains. "I properly failed and didn't get a call back."

Actor Christian Coulson landed the Riddle role.

He also dreamed of playing the part of one of Ron Weasley's brothers, adding, "Over the years, I always hoped I might be cast as a member of the Weasley family, but unfortunately not."

Eddie, who plays 'magizoologist' Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts, also missed out on playing another famous movie villain - Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens - following an awful audition with top casting director Nina Gold.

He failed to impress with his Darth Vader impression, which he admits was a "catastrophically bad" moment in his acting career.

"She (Gold) was just sitting there and I was trying again and again... and after, like, 10 shots, she's like, 'You got anything else?'" he recalled. "I was like, 'No'."

Girls star Adam Driver eventually landed the bad guy role, which he will reprise for 2017's Star Wars: Episode VIII.

Redmayne's new movie, which conjures up the magic of Harry Potter and is set 70 years before the boy wizard's birth, is released on Friday (18Nov16).