Tests and auditions are a fundamental phase of film production that does not tolerate haste, as the success of the film depends on the perfect choice of cast. Sometimes this stage takes many months, sometimes not so much, as some characters can be written specifically for the actor who will interpret them, without the need to perform any tests. However, there are situations in which everything is decided by luck, or details that have nothing to do with acting.
We, from awesome.club, we decided to investigate which actors have already landed roles in movies and television series for unusual reasons or unusual abilities. Check out!
Ben Affleck and his strained smile
David Fincher is famous for having a random criterion when choosing actors for his films. Sometimes, however, everything is a matter of chance. According to the director, Ben Affleck’s strained smile helped him land the role in Gone Girl. “There’s a scene in the film where the journalists ask Amy’s husband to stand next to his missing wife’s poster, and he smiles tensely. I googled and found about 50 photos of Affleck, taken in public places, where he smiles exactly as this scene called for,” Fincher said.
Jennifer Lawrence and the dirty hair
Jennifer Lawrence landed her first leading role in a movie after going a whole week without washing her hair and going to the audition with a runny nose, to better adapt to the image of the character, a 17-year-old girl from a troubled family. The fact is that the director of the mystical drama Winter of the Soulinitially rejected Lawrence’s candidacy as he considered her too beautiful for the role, but that wasn’t enough to stop the rising star.
The actress wanted to act in this film so badly that she flew to New York, walked 13 blocks through a snowstorm, and showed up to the audition with no makeup and dirty hair, unwashed for a week, especially for her audition. It was all worth it: the actress got the role she wanted so much.
Kate Winslet and her persistence
Kate Winslet was a little-known actress at the time of Titanic and had to fight hard to get the role in the successful feature film. With the help of her agent, she got James Cameron’s personal number and called him, trying to convince the director that the role of Rose should be hers. Kate even sent him a bouquet of roses with a note: “From your Rose.” Despite having crossed certain limits, the actress’ persistence helped her achieve her goal.
Emma Watson and her chatty way of being
Auditions for the main roles of the franchise Harry Potter lasted a long time — the producers couldn’t find a Hermione that everyone liked. As a result, JK Rowling herself joined the audition epic. One day, the writer called Emma Watson and was delighted. During the conversation, the 10-year-old girl spoke incessantly to the author for a minute, not allowing herself to be interrupted by Rowling. At that moment, the writer realized that this was how Hermione should be.
James Michael Tyler and his skills as a barista
The actor landed the role of Gunther in the hit series Friends, not because I have a Masters in Fine Arts (Acting), but by chance. The fact is that the actor was the only one among the candidates capable of handling a coffee machine, as he was a barista. By the way, the actor himself admitted that he is not a big fan of the drink and that he does not consume it a lot on a daily basis.
Wayne Knight and his excessive sweating
The director himself offered the role of programmer Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park: Dinosaur Park to the actor by contacting his agent. A peculiar trait of Knight helped him get the job. When Steven Spielberg first saw him in Wild instinct, was impressed by how Knight’s character sweated as he looked at Sharon Stone in the interrogation scene, and that’s how her name came to Spielberg’s mind as he thought about casting for the feature film. “I see him in a close-up sweating, however, in place of female legs, in front of you there will be a dinosaur” — said the director to the actor’s agent.
Matthew McConaughey and his little mustache
Richard Linklater initially did not intend to cast Matthew McConaughey in his film Young, Crazy and Rebel, considering him too handsome for the role of David Wooderson. As he did very well in the test, the director decided to give him a chance, but with one condition: the actor had to grow a horrible little mustache. Of course he agreed.
Chloë Grace Moretz fooled the director with a fake accent
Martin Scorsese had an unusual requirement to film Hugo Cabret’s invention: he wanted the cast to be exclusively made up of British actors. As the American Chloë Grace Moretz always dreamed of filming with the director, she decided to lie at the audition, claiming to be English and imitating a British accent. The truth is that the hoax was discovered during the breaks in filming: Scorsese heard her American accent when the actress spoke on the cell phone.
Harvey Stephens struck a straight blow
The director of the classic horror The prophecy it took a lot of time and effort to find the actor for the role of the son of the devil disguised as a boy. At the audition, Richard Donner asked all the kids to attack him. The most convincing was 4-year-old Harvey Stephens, who hit the director right between the legs. Donner then realized that he had found the perfect Damien.
Chris Hemsworth and his height
A little trick helped the actor to get the role of Thor in the Marvel universe. The fact is, Chris Hemsworth is 1.90 m tall, and for this character, the studio set a limit of 1.85 m, so that the other characters would not look so short next to him. Therefore, the actor lied about his height, and even bent over a little during the audition so as not to give himself away.
Sophie Turner and the number of followers
We all know the powerful impact of social media on people’s lives. But have you ever imagined that the number of followers on Instagram could be the reason why an actor gets a coveted role or, on the contrary, is dismissed from work? the star of the series Game of Thrones went through this experience. Sophie Turner admitted that she only got the role of Sansa Stark because she had more followers than the other candidate, in her opinion, with a much better audition performance than her.
Do you think it’s fair for an actor to be cast in a role without attending an audition? Tell us in the comments section.
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