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“We heard back it was literally one of the worst auditions!”
On the road to fame, there’s sure to be a few bad auditions. Actors who have become major stars have spent a lot of time auditioning throughout their career and unfortunately, it doesn’t always lead to a role. In fact, some auditions just don’t go according to plan at all.
Whether these actors let nerves get the best of them, they didn’t fit the part, or came in completely unprepared, they have their fair share of bad audition experiences. Thankfully, they didn’t let an off day deter them and used it as motivation going into their next audition.
Find out what went wrong at these actor’s auditions…
1. Eddie Redmayne
Eddie Redmayne had hopes of joining the “Star Wars” franchise, auditioning for the role of Kylo Ren in “The Force Awakens.” Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for Eddie, who didn’t know too much about the role before auditioning due to the film’s top secret nature.
"With films that top secret, they don't give you the actual lines. So they give you a scene from ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ but then they tell you you're auditioning for the baddie. If you're me, you then put some ridiculous voice on. That was a really hilarious moment, because it was Nina Gold, who I have to thank a lot because she's cast me in several films. And she was just sitting there and I was trying again and again with different versions of my kind of 'koohh paaaah' [Darth Vader breathing sound] voice. And after like 10 shots she's like, 'You got anything else?' I was like, 'No,'" Eddie told Uproxx.
2. Dakota Johnson
Dakota Johnson says that during an audition for an unnamed project, she got so into the part that she actually took her shirt off, which ended up being really inappropriate for the situation.
"I had an audition, and I got really into it, got really into the scene and it was really dramatic and I took my shirt off, and then you didn’t have to do that. And then afterwards, they were like, 'Uh, that was great. That was really nice,' and I was like, 'Thank you,' and had to pick my shirt up off the floor and still talk to them and put it back on. It was inappropriate. And also still embarrassing,” Dakota told THR.
3. Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth almost didn’t land his role in “Thor” thanks to a less than stellar audition. Chris explained that when he first went in, he was intimidated by director Kenneth Branagh. Meanwhile, Chris’ younger brother Liam made it to the final five guys up for the part. When the casting directors didn’t find their Thor from those actors, Liam’s manager stepped in.
“I came into the audition with Kenneth Branagh and thought I nailed it and then never heard anything back. Months went by and then my brother, my little brother, Liam, was in Australia and sent a tape across and he got a call back, then another call back and then was down to the last kind of four or five people for it...None of those guys got it. My manager then called up and said, ‘You know, he’s got an older brother. Can we bring him back in?’ So I did an audition in Vancouver in this hotel room with my mum reading Anthony Hopkins’ part. She must have nailed it because it got me back in the room and that second audition was a lot different than my first one. I came in kind of with a little, I guess, motivation and maybe frustration that my little brother had gotten further than me. It’s a little family, sibling rivalry sort of kicked up in me,” Chris told W Magazine.
4. Lucy Hale
Lucy Hale tried out for the lead role in “Fifty Shades of Gray” but says the audition was pretty uncomfortable for her.
“That audition was so uncomfortable! It’s exactly what you thought it would be: a big monologue but very, very sexual. There were some things that I was so embarrassed to be reading out loud, but it’s one of those things where you have to commit wholeheartedly or you’re going to make a fool of yourself,” Lucy told Cosmopolitan.
5. Chris Evans
Chris Evans’ audition for “Gone Baby Gone” didn’t quite go according to plan after Chris got a little starstruck when he met Ben Affleck for the first time. After an awkward encounter asking Ben if it was okay if he parked at a meter on the street, he had to go in and audition in front of him.
“From that moment, I just wanted to get the f**k out of the room. I just wanted to be anywhere but there. I sat down with my heart beating out of my chest. I was so mortified that I started this meeting off that way. I started giving him one-word answers. They put me in a rocking chair, so I'm just rocking and twisting, just nervous. 'So, what was your last movie like?' 'Good.' 'What was it like to work with Danny Boyle?' 'Good.' I just wanted to get out of there. It was horrible, a complete disaster. So obviously, I did not get that job,” Chris told Backstage.
6. Jake Gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the part of Frodo in “The Lord of the Rings” but says he didn’t know he was supposed to have a British accent!
“I remember auditioning for ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and going in and not being told that I needed a British accent. I really do remember Peter Jackson saying to me, 'You know that you have to do this in a British accent?' We heard back it was literally one of the worst auditions," Jake told THR.
7. Kat Dennings
Kat Dennings says her worst audition was for an unnamed movie that went on to win Oscars. She read for the role in front of the director as well as the actor who would have played her father, but he didn’t seem to want to take part in the scene.
“The scene was me hysterically crying and getting restrained by my dad so that I couldn’t move...and the guy I was reading with, a very famous actor, went and stood on the complete other side of the room as far away from me as humanly possible and I realized I was going to be reading this scene by myself. So I started reading the scene and I kept looking at him, hoping that he was maybe getting ready or something, but he wasn’t...So I had to pretend to be restrained by myself...The good news is that actor got fired,” Kat told “The Tonight Show.”
8. January Jones
January Jones says her audition for “Coyote Ugly” was one of the “worst moments” of her entire life. After she did the acting portion of her audition, she says she was asked to dance on top of a table.
“They said, ‘You're going to dance to Prince's 'Kiss.' You're going to pole dance, but there is no pole.’ And I just turned beet red. It was awful, and he said something like, ‘Honey, you did a great reading, but you've got no rhythm.’ I called my agent and said, ‘I don't want to do this anymore,’” January told THR.
9. Aaron Paul
Aaron Paul believes his worst audition was the one that ended up landing him his breakthrough role on “Breaking Bad.” After flubbing his lines in the middle of the audition, Aaron stopped things to apologize
“It was awful...I go ‘I’m sorry this is terrible.’ I mean the pressure was on. A room full of people, stadium seating and you have to, you know, prove yourself. And I do it and that’s the audition you see; me like apologizing like ‘oh my god I just f**ked this up. And so I walk out and I’m just biting my nails. So I’m desperate I mean I really have no money I don’t have any money and so it wasn’t just that I was in love with the material, I also I had to have this happen and the cash,” Aaron said of how he felt at the time.
10. Ryan Gosling
Many years ago, Ryan Gosling says he was auditioning for an unnamed project and got so into character that he was brought to tears during an emotional scene. Unfortunately, the casting director wasn’t as moved by his performance and actually accepted a phone call in the middle of his audition.
11. Josh Brolin
Josh Brolin admits he may have gone a little overboard during his audition for “The Fly 2” back in the late ’80s. Before he had even gotten home from his audition, his manager had left him a voicemail to tell him that he actually scared the casting director!
“I did an audition for ’The Fly 2.’ I was living in New York at the time, and I went in there, and he's in a cocoon, transforming into a fly. So I walked in, and I started reading. You do the voice, and you're like, [choking sounds] you know, doing your thing. And I ended up on the floor, frothing at the mouth. I got back to my apartment, and there was already a message on my machine from my agent that said, ‘What the f**k did you do in there? You scared them.’ I said, ‘Well, did I get it?’ That was the worst audition I ever did,” Josh told THR.
12. Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds once tried to get involved in the world of musicals but it turns out that he’s not a very good singer outside of the shower!
"I was never a great auditioner. But I had one where I had to sing, and I'm a nervous singer. I'm one of those people that…you know when you're in the shower, and you're like, ‘This is pretty good?' But once I get out into the real world, it's just like my voice turns into a hammer that hits everybody in the face. So I did an audition where I had to sing, and it was pretty bad. It's one of those auditions that was so bad that I look back and I think, 'What if that tape surfaces at some point? That'll be the death of me.' Yeah. That was pretty awful,” Ryan said during a Variety Studios: Actors on Actors conversation. "
