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Although I’d like to think I was an actor in another life, realistically, there’s one reason why it would never work out for me: Auditioning. The concept of auditions sounds like the most terrifying thing in the entire world, especially when the odds are stacked against you (and when you’re an actor, they kind of are).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n So it’s no wonder that even the best actors have openly discussed failing miserably at auditions before. It turns out that persistence and luck might be just as important as technical prowess when it comes to auditioning for TV and movies, because many of them have also spoken about having terrible auditions for roles they ended up getting.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n For all of these actors, it definitely worked out in the end, because I truly can’t imagine any of these shows or movies without them in it \u2014 but it’s safe to say they may not have been so convincing at first…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 1.<\/span><\/p>\n Brittany Snow<\/a> recently admitted that she \u201cbombed\u201d<\/a> her Hairspray<\/i><\/a> audition. \u201cI did terribly,\u201d she said. \u201cI got really in my head; I got really nervous, and my voice cracked. I did pretty well at the dancing, but the singing part was really awful for me.\u201d After her audition, the director called her and admitted \u201cWell, that wasn\u2019t great\u201d \u2014 but told her that Michelle Pfeiffer<\/a> was going to be in the movie, and \u201cit would\u2019ve been really iconic if you were both in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But she didn\u2019t quit there \u2014 because she remembered that a psychic told her two years before that she\u2019d play the daughter of \u201can iconic, beautiful blonde woman\u201d in a \u201chuge movie.\u201d AKA Michelle Pfeiffer. So Brittany called the director back and told him all about her psychic, which landed her another audition.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 2.<\/span><\/p>\n Lea Michele<\/a> is still arguably best-known for playing Rachel Berry in Glee<\/i> \u2014 and her audition<\/a> was a wild ride. \u201cMy first audition was a disaster. First, I went in and the piano player messed up my song. I, like, got so nervous and freaked out. Then, they were laughing at this scene that, in my mind, was serious,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI left and I thought that it went terribly. Little did I know, throughout my audition, I was kind of doing a lot of \u2014 what was and became \u2014 Rachel Berry.\u201d And if that isn’t the most perfect story you’ve ever heard, I don’t know what is.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 3.<\/span><\/p>\n Robert Pattinson<\/a> (SWOOOOOON) was definitely not confident<\/a> about his Twilight<\/i> audition, but for a reason you probably wouldn\u2019t expect. To help combat his \u201cabsolute terror of auditions,\u201d he decided to take a Valium on the day of his Twilight<\/i> audition. \u201cI had never taken a Valium before,\u201d he admitted.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI just remember feeling so glorious in the back of the taxi with the window open and just being like, \u2018Wow, this is what I\u2019ve been missing.\u2019 I think I had this quite spacey, detached kind of thing in the audition, which must have worked for the character.\u201d So, there ya go! Edward’s \u201cspacey\u201d vibe is because of Valium. Indirectly.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 4.<\/span><\/p>\n Zach Braff\u2019s first audition for Scrubs<\/i> was supposedly \u201cso bad,\u201d<\/a> the show\u2019s creator Bill Lawrence \u201cthrew it out after 8 seconds.\u201d But that wasn\u2019t the end, of course. Here\u2019s Zach\u2019s side of the story: \u201cI was very hungover. I went in, I definitely did a shitty audition, and they said the tape went out to LA. Then I got back to LA and there was no response from my tape. And my agent said, \u2018This is crazy; they still haven\u2019t found this guy. I don\u2019t even think they\u2019ll know; just go in again.\u2019\u201d And he did!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Luckily, Zach didn\u2019t make the same mistakes again. \u201cThis time, I prepared. This time, I got the right script; it made me fuckin\u2019 laugh. It was totally my sense of humour.\u201d And after looking for the right actor to play J.D. for a \u201clong time,\u201d they knew they wanted Zach Braff right away. And I get it. The man is incredible as J.D.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 5.<\/span><\/p>\n Even if you never watched The Vampire Diaries<\/i>, you know Ian Somerhalder was a top-tier heartthrob in the early 2010s, and there\u2019s nobody else who could\u2019ve been Damon in that show. And he knew it<\/a>, too. \u201cI knew this was my role,\u201d he said. But unfortunately, his first audition wasn\u2019t the greatest. \u201cWhether it was too much coffee, that B12 shot I gave myself, who knows? I bombed it,\u201d he said. \u201cI did what I thought I needed to do, and I left feeling awful. Guess what? It wasn’t good enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI had to go back and re-test because our big boss, [CBS president] Les Moonves, did not buy it, the fact that I was Damon. And I wanted to jump off of a building.\u201d But hey, it ended up working out! Because \u201cafter 10 days of virtual hell\u201d of auditioning, he got the role. Ends justify the means, I suppose?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 6.<\/span><\/p>\n Ready to have your mind blown? Aaron Paul thought his Breaking Bad<\/i> audition was horrible. \u201cWhen I got Breaking Bad<\/i> I was at the \u2014 I mean, really, the lowest point in my career, just in terms of finances. I just didn\u2019t know where my next check was gonna come in,\u201d he said, which obviously put more pressure<\/a> on the audition. And even all these years later, Aaron still characterizes it as \u201cawful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the audition, he forgets a line and apologizes for it. \u201cI go, \u2018I\u2019m sorry. This is terrible,\u2019\u201d Aaron recalled. \u201cYou see me apologize. I\u2019m just like, \u2018Oh my god. I just fucked this up. And so I walk out and I\u2019m just biting my nails, because I\u2019m desperate.\u201d But after all that, he didn\u2019t only get a callback, but also a 1:1 \u201cadvice\u201d chat with Vince Gilligan, the show\u2019s creator.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 7.<\/span><\/p>\n On the other hand, Chris Hemsworth initially did think he aced<\/a> his Thor<\/i> audition\u2026but after not hearing back for awhile \u2014 and hearing that his younger brother Liam \u201cgot a call back\u201d for the same role \u2014 he concluded, \u201cI don\u2019t know. I blew my audition I guess.\u201d So his manager got in touch with the casting team to let them know he\u2019s Liam\u2019s older brother, which got him another audition.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThat 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,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a little family, sibling rivalry sort of kicked up in me. Then it moved pretty quick from there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 8.<\/span><\/p>\n Dominic Fike is seriously one of my favourite singers ever\u2026but many people only recognize him as Elliot from Euphoria.<\/i> Anyway, his audition? Let\u2019s just say Dom didn\u2019t appear to take it very seriously<\/a>. \u201cI stayed up all night with this girl drinking whiskey, taking shrooms. I show up to the audition, or the read, beyond fucked up,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m just laughing at Sam [Levinson, the director], and everyone’s laughing at me because I’m just laughing at them.\u201d He admitted that he didn\u2019t know what Euphoria<\/i> was at the time, nor did he know Zendaya or Barbie Ferreira.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe started reading it, but then the words started jumping around on the page. I was like, \u2018I can’t do this script.\u2019 And they were like, \u2018Dom, just go get rest,\u2019\u201d he recalled. \u201cAnd they were so mad at me. I remember they called my agents and were like, \u2018This kid’s never doing anything in Hollywood again, ever. We’re so mad.\u2019\u201d But a year later, Sam rewrote the character to match Dominic\u2019s audition \u2014 \u201cwith the qualities of the guy who he saw show up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 9.<\/span><\/p>\n After Neil Patrick Harris read the character description for Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother<\/i>, he thought, \u201cI\u2019m not gonna get this job.\u201d So what did that mean? He \u201cdidn\u2019t really care.\u201d He explained how he auditioned<\/a> with the laser-tag scene: \u201cI think I did a dive roll and knocked into their desk.\u201d Which, yanno, isn’t the most professional thing ever.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But although it wasn\u2019t exactly what they were initially looking for, the writers liked it. \u201cAs good writers do, they thought, \u2018It doesn\u2019t have to be this. It could actually maybe be this<\/i>.\u2019 And I thought it would just be the pilot and would never go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 10.<\/span><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know about you, but when I think of Sean Penn, I think of Fast Times at Ridgemont High<\/i>\u2026 And his audition story is almost as notorious as his performance in the film. Sean admitted that while he\u2019s \u201cawful\u201d<\/a> at auditioning, at the same time, he \u201chad a kind of feeling of entitlement as an actor\u201d at the time. So, that meant he had \u201can awful lot of confidence\u201d going into the audition. But alas: \u201cI auditioned terribly, flat, and I knew I wasn\u2019t willing to do the music of this character that I thought it was,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But the casting team wasn\u2019t done with him, thankfully. They ran after him in the parking lot and told him, \u201cGet back in here and audition your ass off\u201d \u2014 without the attitude, this time. And it worked!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 11.<\/span><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t like In The Heights<\/i>, you\u2019re wrong\u2026 And one of the best parts of that movie is Anthony Ramos. But did you know that, according to Anthony himself, his audition kinda sucked<\/a>? \u201cI bombed that audition,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was, like, horrible<\/i>.\u201d But he ended up being able to start fresh when the movie switched studios. \u201cI was like, yo, I hope they burned that audition tape,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cI hope someone burned that shit, and it\u2019s somewhere deep down in the archives where no one can find it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n So I guess the question is, did the director, Jon M. Chu, ever see his original audition? The answer is no. \u201cEither it was so bad that it got buried and was never shown to me, or… Who knows how it got lost in the shuffle,\u201d Jon said. All I know is, I\u2019m glad it happened.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 12.<\/span><\/p>\n The 2020 Mulan<\/i> movie has a similar story, starring Jason Scott Lee as the antagonist. He recalls the \u201clong\u201d<\/a> process: \u201cIt came first as a Skype audition, and I think Skype auditions are completely botched. It was terrible. I came off very bad, and it\u2019s funny because they ended up passing on me.\u201d He remembered feeling like he was \u201cflying blind\u201d because of the limited material he was given before audition.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n After almost a year of \u201cradio silence\u201d and Jason\u2019s assumption that they were going with another actor, they told him, \u201cWe want you to do another taping. And this time, it\u2019s going to be different.\u201d He was told he had to fly to New Zealand for his audition, and then \u201cstay down there and start pre-production\u201d if they wanted him. And they did! Turns out his \u201cterrible\u201d Skype audition wasn\u2019t the be-all, end-all.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 13.<\/span><\/p>\n Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones<\/i>, had a rather weird end to her audition, which she explained<\/a> on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/i>. \u201cThere were lots of people from HBO there, and I was kind of anxious and did all of the scenes.\u201d Then, at the end, she asked them if she could do anything else, and they suggested she \u201cdo a dance.\u201d So what did she do? She did a dance. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to do it, but I did the funky chicken. And it kind of morphed into the robot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Although it was unconventional and ridiculous, it the risk paid off. \u201cI sort of heard some laugher going on, and I thought, \u2018Comedy gold, this is brilliant!\u2019\u201d But when the audience asked her to recreate her audition dance, she said, \u201cI can\u2019t. It\u2019s terrible.\u201d So there you have it: Sometimes performing badly on purpose wins you the part!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 14.<\/span><\/p>\n You might know Teresa Palmer from A Discovery of Witches<\/i> or Warm Bodies<\/i>, but she was also in the 2016 war drama Hacksaw Ridge<\/i> alongside Andrew Garfield, directed by Mel Gibson. The audition started with a \u201chorrendous\u201d Skype meeting with Mel, which was a \u201cdisastrous\u201d miscommunication that left Mel waiting for Teresa for over half an hour \u2014 and once she did get on the call, her computer froze, then her iPhone died, then her iPad died. And if that isn\u2019t enough: \u201cI hadn\u2019t read the script in six months. I just had to wing it,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But I guess Mel liked her authenticity. \u201cI somehow got the movie from that,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I had put myself on tape a few months earlier and I hadn\u2019t heard anything so I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d got it. I was such a flustered mess. I was like, \u2018I\u2019m so sorry! Nothing\u2019s charged, everything\u2019s breaking, this is the most horrendous thing.\u2019 And he was chuckling and he\u2019s like, \u2018I like you, you\u2019re real.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 15.<\/span><\/p>\n Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the GOATs, so it’s hard to imagine any of his auditions going “badly.” But there was definitely some tension<\/a> surrounding his Titanic<\/i> audition, specifically at his screen test with Kate Winslet. After he “charmed” everybody at his first audition, Leo came back to read with Kate. But according to James Cameron, Leo “didn\u2019t know he was going to test,” and responded with, “Oh, I don’t read.” So what did James do? “I shook his hand and said, \u2018Thanks for coming by,\u2019” he recalled.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But thankfully, Leo caught on and said, “Wait, wait, wait. If I don\u2019t read, I don\u2019t get the part? Just like that?” to which James essentially told him that, yep, he’d have to do the screen test right then and there. “So he comes in, and he\u2019s like every ounce of his entire being is just so negative \u2014 right up until I said, \u2018Action,\u2019” James said. “Then he turned into Jack.” It’s at that moment when James thought, “All right. He\u2019s the guy.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n So hey, take this as your sign to never give up, I guess! Did any of these surprise you? Which audition are you dying to see the most? Tell me in the comments below!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n And for more celeb content, be sure to follow BuzzFeed Canada on Instagram<\/a> and TikTok<\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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