These 21 Actors Had Wild Auditions But Some Of Them Managed To Get Some Pretty Iconic Roles

You want to be an actor? Think again.

Damjan

• Published in Film & TV
• April 26, 2022

Famous actors have a variety of options when it comes to finding auditions. Many people have the misconception that famous performers are simply handed roles.

This isn't completely accurate. While it is true that famous actors are occasionally contacted and requested to audition for roles, or are even cast in roles if the director or writer has someone in mind, this is not always the case.

For example, some movie roles will be written with a certain type of actor in mind, but the art crew often changes their mind when they see the actors actually performing their intended roles.

Many well-known performers, including Oscar winners, must go through the same audition process as many lesser-known actors. The truth is that it all relies on the role, the producer, the director, the casting agent, and the actor's availability.

So many pieces have to fit in. But even then, they still have to go through a series of script readings so the producers could see if their idea would work.

Different art directors have different ways of testing potential actors, so these auditions and readings can be quite weird. We have collected 21 of the most interesting auditions.

Take a look, maybe you will give up on your dream of being an actor.

1. Chris Hemsworth did not get a callback for the final audition for Thor, but his brother Liam did.

They remembered Liam had an older sibling and called Chris back in when the final few actors, including Liam, were not cast.

2. During her Game of Thrones audition, Emilia Clarke ended up doing the funky chicken and robot dances.

Creator David Benioff joked that she should "do a dance," and she took him seriously.

3. At auditions for Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Eddie Redmayne did a very bad Darth Vader impression.

The casting directors asked if he could do anything else after a few minutes, and he simply replied, "No."

4. On her way to her Glee audition, Lea Michele was involved in a major car accident, and she was still pulling glass out of her hair when the audition began.

5. Lamorne Morris wore jeggings and a halter top to his New Girl audition, and he applied "a bunch Vaseline on his legs" because the scene entailed a Halloween party.

6. Harrison Ford was working as a carpenter in the building where Star Wars auditions were conducted when George Lucas spotted him and invited him in.

7. During his Lord of the Rings Frodo audition, Jake Gyllenhaal had no idea he had to mimic a British accent until director Peter Jackson told him halfway through.

8. Sandra Oh supposedly left her wallet and phone at home before her Grey's Anatomy audition, and she ended up leaving early due to her nerves.

9. Nicholas Holt was awkwardly ordered to fake a "Hispanic accent" and base it on Puss in Boots from Shrek during his audition for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

10. Michael B. Jordan lied and said he could rap during his audition for the Tupac Shakur movie, forcing him to come up with something on the spot.

11. For his audition, Vilhelm Blomgren, who played Pelle in Midsommar, had to stroll "30 meters in the woods" and then act out a scenario.

12. Jodie Comer ate a lot of blueberry pie while auditioning for Killing Eve and performing an eight-page scene opposite Sandra Oh – Sandra brought props for the chemistry read, and Jodie just committed.

13. Bradley Cooper began imitating Christian Bale's Batman voice during his audition for Green Lantern for no apparent reason.

14. During her Schitt's Creek audition, Emily Hampshire became so nervous that she began to "pull part of her shirt over her head" as if she were hiding in front of Dan Levy.

15. Manny Jacinto, Jameela Jamil, D'Arcy Carden, and William Jackson Harper were given false scenes to audition with because only Kristen Bell and Ted Danson knew what The Good Place was about.

16. D'Arcy Carden, for one, had no idea Janet was supposed to be an AI and was perplexed when a 15-year-old boy auditioned ahead of her and a woman in her sixties auditioned after her.

17. Riz Ahmed auditioned for Rogue One and submitted roughly 15 separate videos, each with a distinct accent and manner for Bodhi.

18. January Jones had no idea she had to do a "pole dance with no pole" for her Coyote Ugly audition – she was told she had "no rhythm" thereafter.

19. Noah Centineo forced himself to slump at every audition for To All the Boys so that he never seemed taller than Lana Condor.

20. Brie Larson had no idea she was auditioning for Trainwreck; she believed she was just going out to lunch with Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow a couple times.

21. Jamie Lee Curtis realized her audition for Field of Dreams was so poor that she abruptly ended it, saying, "Look folks, I'm truly sorry, I'm out."

Interesting trivia: Did you know that Nick Fury, a Marvel character, was inspired by David Hasselhoff? The art directors had similar actors in mind for the part.

But when they saw Samuel L. Jackson, they knew he is the one. He has, of course, played Nick Fury in every Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

Damjan