40 Actors Who Didn’t Get The Part They Wanted But Stole The Show In A Totally Different Role

The Lord of the Rings movies enjoyed stunning success when they were released in the early noughties. Though the Peter Jackson-directed epics that were based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel could have turned out very differently – particularly for the career of Orlando Bloom. The English actor originally tried to land the role of Faramir, but he lost out to Aussie David Wenham. Instead, Bloom was cast as the crossbow-shooting elf Legolas, and he went on to become a big Hollywood star.

The American made but London-based period drama Bridgerton has become hugely popular in the United States. According to Deadline, up to 82 million households watched the first season on Netflix! Interestingly, though, the series’ Anthony Bridgerton – actor Jonathan Bailey – almost landed another role. The star auditioned for Daphne’s boyfriend Simon Basset, he told OprahMag.com. But producers realized Bailey was perfect for Anthony, and after reading scripts for that the change was made.

Are there two more iconic stars on Grey’s Anatomy than doctors Miranda Bailey and Cristina Yang? Yes, the two characters – portrayed by Chandra Wilson and Sandra Oh respectively – have been central to the show’s success. But Oh dropped a bombshell at PaleyFest L.A. 2006 and revealed that she initially tested out for the role of Miranda. She remarked, “Thank God I didn’t get that part! Can you imagine not having [Wilson]? Forget it!”

English actor Tom Hiddleston is known the world over for his portrayal of the villain Loki in the Marvel Comics Universe. But he actually originally tested for the superhero Thor! Alas, it was not to be – despite him fulfilling the criteria of being over six feet tall and having long blonde hair at that time. You can watch his somewhat cringey audition tape on YouTube, as it aired when he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in 2019. Though it did land him the Loki gig, to be fair.

Everyone who watches the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine knows Chelsea Peretti as Gina Linetti – the snarky former civilian administrator of the 99th Precinct. But it could have been so different. Peretti revealed at a HuffPost Live event in 2015, “Should I drop a bomb? I initially auditioned for the part of Rosa, which was not called Rosa at the time. [I] did not get it, but they called me and were like, ‘We’re going to write a different part for you.’ So, my part was not in the script that I initially read.” Wow.

The Hunger Games – a warped dystopian fantasy about a televised deathmatch competition – wowed many critics and audiences in 2012. Liam Hemsworth was one actor whose career took off via the franchise thanks to his performance as Gale Hawthorne. Though it could have all been very different! The former Mr. Miley Cyrus originally auditioned for the role of Peeta, which eventually went to Josh Hutcherson.

We’re sorry to break it to you Friends fans, but Matt LeBlanc nearly wasn’t Joey Tribbiani! The Simpsons voice actor Hank Azaria nearly landed the role as the Italian-American lothario. He revealed to HuffPost Live in 2014, “That’s the only job I ever auditioned for twice. I thought it was so good. They had rejected me once, I said, ‘I’m going back, I’m gonna do it again.” Ultimately, though, Azaria had to settle for playing Phoebe’s on-off boyfriend David.

Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight garnered universal acclaim and posthumously landed him an Oscar. But the late Australian actor almost became the good guy of Gotham City: Batman. Yes, as director Christopher Nolan revealed in 2012, he met with Ledger regarding the caped crusader in the preceding Batman Begins.

The Walking Dead would be unthinkable without the iconic Daryl Dixon. But did you know that the character was actually a late addition to the show and is not a part of the original comics? According to FanFest.com, Daryl was specifically created by showrunner Frank Darabont for Norman Reedus after the actor impressed him immensely during his audition for Merle – a role which went to Michael Rooker. How cool!

Chadwick Boseman really made a huge mark in the Marvel Comic Universe with his acclaimed performance in Black Panther. But the late actor – who played the titular character – could have been a different superhero entirely if an earlier audition had gone better. Yes, believe it or not, Boseman revealed to Jimmy Fallon in 2019 that he first auditioned for the role of Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. How weird would that have been?

Two of the funniest and most iconic characters on the American version of The Office are undoubtedly Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute. The hilarious white collar workers were portrayed by Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson respectively. But in 2013 the latter revealed something crazy on Facebook. As well as being the first person to audition for the show, he also read for Michael. Can you imagine if that had happened instead?

The much-loved movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets could have featured an unlikely villain had an audition gone differently. Yes, actor Eddie Redmayne told Empire magazine in 2016, “I actually auditioned to play Tom Riddle when I was back at university. I properly failed and didn’t get a call back. Over the years, I always hoped I might be cast as a member of the Weasley family, but unfortunately not.”

Imagining anyone else but Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator is almost impossible. Go ahead and try: we bet you can only see Arnie’s face when you do it! But he nearly wound up playing the human-like robot’s nemesis in the original film. The Austrian star told Howard Stern in 2015, “I didn’t even try out for Terminator. I was trying to be Kyle Reese, and during the lunch when I met with James Cameron – the director – I kept talking all the time about the Terminator.”

Becoming James Bond is a dream for many actors. And it nearly became a reality for the English actor Sean Bean. Though according to Digital Spy, the distributor MGM demanded that Pierce Brosnan take the part! Bean nonetheless appeared as Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye. Trevelyan was the main baddie in the 1995 movie and as a former MI6 secret agent had the code 006. Clearly, then, Bean was close to being 007 in more ways than one!

The paranormal thriller Supernatural has proved popular with audiences and critics alike. But did you know it could have been quite different had it not been for a failed audition? Yep, Jensen Ackles – who portrays Dean Winchester – revealed at JIB Rome Con 2010 that he almost played his brother Sam!

It’s hard to believe that One Tree Hill ended back in 2012. But the popular teen drama had more than its fair share of memorable moments and characters. Few were more iconic than the Sophia Bush-portrayed Brooke Davis. But can you get your head around the fact that Bethany Joy Lenz was nearly Brooke and not Haley? According to Fame10, she auditioned for the former role but deliberately flunked it to ensure she was cast as the latter. Phew!

Alex Vause is one of the most popular and important characters in the prison drama Orange is the New Black. But Laura Prepon explained to The Hollywood Reporter that she almost didn’t play her, as the actress had auditioned for the role of Piper Chapman first. Luckily, both the casting people and Prepon didn’t think it was a right fit. And the latter admitted that when she read for Alex it made a lot more sense.

It’s hard to deny that Game of Thrones was a cultural phenomenon. But the HBO fantasy based on the novels of George R. R. Martin nearly had a remarkably different piece of casting. BuzzFeed notes that Iwan Rheon screen tested for the role of Jon Snow. The actor didn’t get it, of course, but he impressed producers enough to land the part of Ramsay Bolton. That’s just as well, because it is hard to imagine Snow being portrayed by anyone other than Kit Harrington!

Friends is a series with a number of eye-raising casting decisions. And one of these was the role of quick-witted funnyman Chandler Bing. Believe it or not, but Swingers star Jon Favreau reportedly auditioned for the role and was offered the part. But the actor/director passed on it to focus on other projects, and Matthew Perry eventually got the nod. Though Favreau did later play a love interest of Monica – namely Pete “the ultimate fighting champion guy” Becker.

The movie 10 Things I Hate About You turned a Shakespearian drama into a high-school comedy. It garnered mostly positive reviews upon its 1999 release, but things could have been quite different. That’s because Joseph-Gordon Levitt tested for the role of Michael before being picked to play Cameron. Yet the star wasn’t really that enthused about being in the film at all. He told The New York Times, “If I’m really honest, I didn’t want to do a high-school romantic comedy. I wanted to do Sundance movies.”

Sex And The City sans Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw is unthinkable to many of us. Yet it really could’ve been so! According to Grazia, Kristin Davis – who eventually played the role of Charlotte – was asked by creator Darren Star to audition for the lead role. And it was Davis who requested to play Charlotte – a character she more closely identified with. TV history would never have been the same!

The 2015 live-action retelling of Cinderella was a success. But as unthinkable as it might be, Lily James nearly wasn’t the titular character. She told Nightline, “I actually originally went in for one of the sisters to play Anastasia. And I had this awful pink-orange jumper and my hair had been dyed blonde with big brown roots.” James went on, “I think because I had blonde hair the casting director said, ‘Oh, you should read for Ella while you’re here.’”

Surely no one else but Kristin Stewart could play the role of Bella Swan? Believe it or not, her Twilight co-star Ashley Greene almost got the coveted gig! The latter told MTV, “I originally auditioned for Bella, and so I read the first book and kind of fell in love with it. I went in and auditioned and actually they called me back in and said, ‘No, you’re not right for Bella,’ so I was bummed, and then they brought me back for Alice.”

High School Musical made stars of its lead actors Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale. But the teen drama may have had a different Gabriella for Efron’s Troy to lust after. And it was Tisdale who auditioned for the part before being picked as the more villainous Sharpay Evans. According to BuzzFeed, she landed the role when producers couldn’t find a black actor for Ryan Evans and decided to change her character to white Caucasian.

The role of Marissa Cooper on The O.C. was always going to be Mischa Barton’s, right? Well, not exactly. There was a chance it could’ve gone to Olivia Wilde, who was keen on the part and auditioned for it. Eventually, though, Marie Claire reports that the teen drama’s creator Josh Schwartz chose Barton – thinking she more neatly fitted the damsel in distress that he sought. Nevertheless, Wilde turned up in the series as Alex Kelly – a lover of both Cooper and Seth Cohen.

Cillian Murphy shone as the Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s three Batman films. But did you know he was a candidate for the caped crusader himself? Yep, the Irishman revealed to Seth Meyers that auditioned for the role. He told the funnyman, “I never for a moment thought I was [Batman] material. It was obvious that Christian Bale was gonna be Batman – at that time it was clear, and he’s such a magnificent Batman and Bruce Wayne.”

Daniel Radcliffe is so synonymous with the role of Harry Potter that it’s easy to forget he is a different person in real life. But the English actor nearly wasn’t his famous alter ego. The role nearly ended up going to Tom Felton, according to Mental Floss. But as fans will know, he became Draco Malfoy instead, and the actor told MTV that he was very grateful to have been given the part.

The TV drama Gossip Girl effectively launched the career of Blake Lively. But producer Josh Schwartz has revealed that her iconic Serena van der Woodsen role might have been played by someone else – co-star Leighton Meester. But, thankfully, Meester wanted to play Blair Waldorf so much that she dyed her hair. And we think that it all worked out well in the end for them both!

Black Panther arguably wouldn’t have been as great if it hadn’t featured Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia. So, it may surprise you that if it had not been for an earlier audition in the MCU – when the Kenyan-Mexican was pipped by Karen Gillan to the role of Nebula – it may never have materialized. Casting guru Sarah Finn later revealed Nyong’o was not required to screen-test for Nakia – such was the confidence in her talent.

The role of Captain America was unsurprisingly a much-coveted one. But before it went to Chris Evans, the likes of John Krasinski and Chris Pratt attempted to land the Marvel Universe gig. Pratt would come up short, but his audition was at least seen as promising. And after a positive meeting with director James Gunn, he landed the role of Peter Quill.

The Breakfast Club is a classic coming-of-age caper. But John Hughes’ movie could have been shockingly different – with Molly Ringwald playing Allison instead of Claire. Luckily, she talked him out of it. The actress later told The New York Times, “I was really upset because I wanted to play Claire, who was called Cathy at the time. She was so different from the way that I saw myself, and more the way I saw my older sister, because my sister was very popular.”

Sissy Spacek was born to play Carrie in the 1976 eponymous horror movie. And yet the lead part almost went to Amy Irving. She auditioned for the role, but ultimately it was decided she was a better fit for Carrie’s only pal Sue Snell. At least Irving – and her mom Priscilla Pointer – got to be in the legendary movie.

The characters in the edgy teen thriller Pretty Little Liars seem to have been perfectly cast. But the show’s creator Marlene King revealed on a Variety podcast that the leads could have been very different. Apparently, Lucy Hale had been keen on playing Hanna Marin – a role which ended up going to Ashley Benson. King managed to get Hale to do a re-read and in the end she agreed that Aria Montgomery was the best fit for her.

Sam Rockwell really made his mark in Iron Man 2 as the evil Justin Hammer. But the actor could have landed a very different role. He told the AV Club, “At one point, Jon [Favreau] had called me about possibly screen-testing for the part of Tony Stark in Iron Man. And whatever happened, I think I was out of the running. Robert [Downey Jr.] just killed it, you know, and I never heard anything after that.” We like you better as a baddie anyway, Sam.

The rather controversial teen comedy Heathers has become something of a cult favorite in the decades since its release. Yet the 1989 film’s notable cast nearly had a different look to it. A then-17-year-old Shannen Doherty reportedly eyed the plum part of Veronica, but Winona Ryder had already got it. The former refused calls to try out for Heather Chandler and set her sights on playing Heather Duke. After nailing the audition, Doherty refused to go blonde to match the other “Heathers” – settling on being a redhead in the flick.

It’s unimaginable to us that anyone could play Mean Girls ultimate meanie Regina George but Rachel McAdams. It is likewise unfathomable to imagine how any other actress besides Lindsay Lohan could portray Cady Heron. But the Tina Fey penned comedy actually could’ve had Lohan as the manipulative George. Yes, the Hollywood hellraiser wanted to play the Queen of the Plastics and auditioned for it, according to Screen Rant. But despite Lohan’s wish to go against her on-screen type, Paramount pushed her towards playing Cady. It was a good call, we’d say.

Nobody else could’ve been Buffy Summers but Sarah Michelle Gellar, could they? Well, yes actually. Believe it or not, Gellar nearly wound-up being Cordelia Chase, and the producers had originally wanted Katie Holmes to be the titular character. But the latter opted to complete high school instead. Charisma Carpenter also wanted to be Buffy, though she was given the Cordelia gig and Gellar ended up taking the vampire-slaying role.

Courteney Cox is known the world over for her iconic performance as Monica Geller – the neurotic yet caring sister of Ross on Friends. But incredibly, she was nearly Rachel! Yes, it was proposed by the casting folk that Cox should play the role that ultimately went to Jennifer Aniston. But as she revealed on Off Camera with Sam Jones, she turned it down. Why? Cox explained, “For some reason, I thought I related more to Monica, which maybe it’s because I do. I’m very similar to her.”

James Franco made his mark in the first Spiderman movie as Peter Parker’s pal Harry Osborn. But did you know he was nearly Spidey himself? Well, it’s true, and the actor revealed all to The Paly Voice in 2007. Franco recalled, “So, they spent a lot of money on the sets and cranes which is unusual… I went and did that and was waiting around, and biting my nails for six weeks.” He missed out, but director Sam Raimi called him and they got along famously, so Franco became Osborn!

Betty White lit up The Golden Girls and its numerous spin-offs with her spirited performance as Rose Nylund. Though did you know that she originally tried out for the role of Blanche Devereaux? According to Good Housekeeping, the show’s director decided that role was too reminiscent of that of Sue Ann on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and White was cast as arguably her most iconic character.