1.
Lin-Manuel Miranda called Wicked director and close friend Jon M. Chu several times, pitching himself to play a Munchkin in the movie. Ultimately, Jon said no because he thought Lin’s casting in the movie would have been “too distracting.”
2.
Henry Cavill was told he wasn’t “lean” enough to play James Bond when he was only 21 years old. The director of the movie urged him to lose weight before his next audition.
3.
Robert Redford was in the running to play the lead in The Graduate, but director Mike Nichols insisted he could never play the part because the main character was “a loser” and no one would believe Redford was a loser.
4.
Elle Fanning was rejected from starring in a “father-daughter road-trip comedy” because someone on the creative team thought she was “unfuckable.”
5.
Zoë Kravitz was rejected from auditioning for The Dark Knight Rises because she was seen as “too urban.” She told the Observer, “Being a woman of color and being an actor, and being told at that time that I wasn’t able to read because of the color of my skin, and the word ‘urban’ being thrown around like that, that was what was really hard about that moment.” However, she went on to star in The Batman as Catwoman/Selina Kyle.
6.
Olivia Wilde lost out on the role of Naomi Lapaglia in The Wolf of Wall Street and was initially told that she was “too sophisticated” to play the part. Later on, she found out “they actually said ‘old.'”
7.
Robin Williams really wanted to play Hagrid in the Harry Potter films and had even called director Chris Columbus to ask if he could take on the role. But there was an unofficial “Brits only” rule for the actors in those films and Chris rejected him.
8.
Michelle Pfeiffer was in the running for the role of Vicki Vale in the 1989 Batman, but Michael Keaton, her IRL ex-boyfriend and would-be onscreen love interest, prevented her from getting the job because at the time, he was trying to get back together with his ex-wife.
9.
Harry Styles was heavily interested in playing Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic, however, he was rejected from the role, and Austin Butler was cast. “The real issue with Harry is he’s Harry Styles,” Baz said. “He’s already an icon. Harry and I came to a place, genuinely I mean, he was just desperate to put the suit on and explore.”
10.
Beyoncé reportedly lost out on voicing Tiana in The Princess and the Frog because she refused to audition. According to former Disney casting director Jen Rudin, Beyoncé expected to receive an offer.
11.
Meryl Streep was told she wasn’t “beautiful enough” to play Dwan in King Kong. During her audition, she overheard producer Dino De Laurentiis start speaking Italian and ask his son (who’d suggested her for the role), “Why do you bring me this ugly thing?” He didn’t realize that Meryl could also understand the language.
12.
Regé-Jean Page was reportedly asked to audition for the role of Seg-El in Krypton, but then was denied the role because DC Films co-founder Geoff Johns allegedly said that “Superman could not have a Black grandfather.”
13.
Scarlett Johansson auditioned for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and was in the running for the lead role. However, director David Fincher deemed her “too sexy” for the part, despite having a “great” audition. “Scarlett Johansson was great. It was a great audition, I’m telling you. But the thing with Scarlett is, you can’t wait for her to take her clothes off,” he said.
14.
Michael Jackson lost out on the role of Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequels because he and director George Lucas had totally different visions for the character’s special effects. Michael wanted to use prosthetics similar to those he wore in the “Thriller” music video, while George wanted to use CGI.
15.
Finally, Nia Long lost out on a role in Charlie’s Angels because she was told she looked “too old” next to Drew Barrymore, who was 25 at the time. Nia was only four and a half years older than Drew. Lucy Liu was cast in the role instead, even though she’s actually two years older than Nia and six years older than Drew.
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