There are bad audition stories, and then there are truly painful ones.
Will Arnett has a not-so-fond memory of the latter. During a stop by Hot Ones, the Arrested Development actor was asked if he had a “most painful memory of auditioning in L.A. during pilot season” to share, because he “once swore off pilots after being cast in a series of shows that failed to launch.”
Though it wasn’t for pilot season — or a television series at all — Arnett did have a pretty good recollection of the time he auditioned with Kevin Costner for the 1997 movie The Postman.
“The night before, I’d eaten something bad, and I ended up going to the hospital because I was so dehydrated from being ill,” Arnett told Hot Ones host Sean Evans. “And at that point that afternoon going to meet him, that was the furthest I’d been away from the bathroom in like, you know, 14 hours.”
He continued, “And I remember getting up there and just meeting him and being a fan of his and like this was like a big deal, and just sweating, and just thinking, ‘This can go really bad right now.’ Yeah, I was meeting Kevin Costner and I legitimately was worried about crapping my pants, you know.”
Ultimately, Arnett didn’t clarify which role he was up for in The Postman, but it’s clear he didn’t get the part in the film, which was also produced and directed by Costner. In addition to Costner, Olivia Williams, Will Patton, Tom Petty, Peggy Lipton, and Larenz Tate also starred.
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The Is This Thing On? actor had made his big screen debut the previous year, in 1996 films Ed’s Next Move and Close Up. A few more movie roles would follow, but it wasn’t until 2003’s Arrested Development that Arnett had his big breakthrough.
As alluded to on Hot Ones, Arnett has not been shy over the years about his struggles booking roles early in his career, including telling Variety in 2004 that he had made a personal vow not to audition for television pilots anymore right before he got the role on Arrested Development.
Kevin Costner in ‘The Postman’ Warner Bros.
“When it went to series, my character got cut or I got fired,” he said of his experience with pilot season, noting in particular the CBS series Still Standing, which he was cut from when the network ordered more episodes without him. “I’m not entirely sure. I know that both things happened.”
Elsewhere on Hot Ones, above, Arnett discusses the art of a great talk-show appearance, his obsession with Golden Tee, and how he cracked the code on his Batman voice.
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