With Gary Oldman unable to become General Grievous on the big screen, Matthew Wood has earned his place in history as the premier actor behind the villainous Jedi hunter. Beyond “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” he has voiced Grievous in everything from “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” to “Star Wars: Tales of the Empire” — a series that importantly makes Grievous scary again — to “Disney Infinity.” All of this is pretty miraculous considering that Wood scored the role by accident after putting in an anonymous audition tape that George Lucas thought was perfect.

“It was an advantage that I knew what George wanted as I heard him talk to actors about Grievous, so I did give it a try. [Dialogue editor Chris Scarabosio] recorded me and I put the tape under an anonymous name with the rest,” Wood shared in a 2005 interview, explaining that soon enough, producer Rick McCallum asked him about his tape, as Lucas wanted to get in touch with whoever left it. Wood fessed up, McCallum told Lucas, and, much to Wood’s surprise, he wasn’t in trouble at all. “George called me then and asked me to come over and record it. It was fun, because I don’t have any shyness around George. I didn’t tell anybody about it. Finally, when the film was printed I told everybody,” he added.

While it stands to reason that Gary Oldman would’ve nailed the General Grievous role, considering how he landed the part and how well he has done in it, it’s safe to say it was destined for Matthew Wood all along.