Many iconic movie roles become synonymous with the actor who plays them, but have you ever wondered what would happen if different actors got cast for some major roles? What would it look like if Tom Holland hadn’t laughed through his audition and got the role of Finn in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy? What difference would it have made if Eddie Redmayne didn’t try to copy Ian Holm and secured the role of Bilbo in The Hobbit for himself?

Updated: November 2022: To keep this article fresh and relevant by adding more information and entries, this article has been updated by Olivia Martello.

Even the best of actors sometimes make mistakes during the audition process that eventually cost them a big loss in their careers. Indeed, here are some actors who lost iconic movie roles because of bad auditions.

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10 Tom Hiddleston for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

     Disney Platform Distribution

Tom Hiddleston almost played Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean — if only he hadn’t gone to the audition with a hangover. Yes, while giving an interview for his feature-length documentary Muse of Fire, the actor was asked whether he recalls any bad audition experiences. Hiddleston then went on to explain how, back when he just got out of drama school and didn’t really understand how the industry worked, he received a script for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl the night before the audition. Not knowing the weight of the situation, he briefly looked at the script and went out drinking with his friends. As you may have guessed, the casting director wasn’t very pleased, and Hiddleston was unsuccessful. Of course, things worked out for Hiddleston in the end as the actor landed the role of Loki in the MCU franchise.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

9 Nicholas Hoult for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

     Fox Searchlight Pictures

Nicholas Hoult has had many memorable roles over the years. He has lots of experience in science fiction and fantasy movies, and even auditioned for the role of Caspian in the second Narnia film, Prince Caspian. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Hoult described it as one of his “all-time worst” auditions, where he was asked to do a Hispanic accent he hadn’t prepared for. He was told to base the accent on Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots, which didn’t work out for Hoult. He didn’t get the part, but would go on to have roles in Mad Max: Fury Road and the TV series The Great.

8 Michael B. Jordan for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

     Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Auditioning for a big franchise has to be nerve-racking in its own way, and yet, Michael B. Jordan managed to get his role for MCU’s Black Panther. Why was his Star Wars audition for Finn any different? While promoting the film Without Remorse, the actor admitted in a podcast interview with Variety that the audition was his “worst one to date.” He explained that he couldn’t really connect to the script because of the secrecy these big franchises promote. We can only imagine how challenging it must be to identify with a character without knowing the backstory.

7 Meryl Streep for King Kong

     20th Century Fox

The brutal reality of Hollywood’s sexism hits you every time you hear a story from essentially any actress in the industry. Even the caliber of an actress with 21 Academy Awards nominations, that is Meryl Streep, isn’t the exception. The actress didn’t have the smoothest of starts during her acting career, but it wasn’t because of a lack of talent. Streep said in her interview with Graham Norton that as soon as she stepped into the audition room for King Kong, the producer Dino De Laurentis called her “too ugly” in Italian. It’s heartbreaking to think that a woman’s role in the movie is to look pretty while the man saves the world. King Kong wasn’t a huge loss for Streep, who has dozens of hits on her resume from The Devil Wears Prada to, most recently, Don’t Look Up.

6 Timothée Chalamet for Spider-Man: Homecoming

     Warner Bros. Pictures

The ongoing discussions about Timothée Chalamet’s potential joining of the MCU’s Spider-Man family as Harry Osborne has already been picked up by the cast as well. But what some of you may not know is that the Oscar-nominated actor had once auditioned for the role of Spider-Man himself. “I read twice, and I left sweating in a total panic,” Chalamet recalled in a Hollywood Reporter interview. He wanted to go back and try it again, but his agent talked him out of it. Let’s say that everything worked out: as far as successful franchises go, Chalamet has had a hit with Dune.

5 Lucy Hale for 50 Shades of Grey

     Warner Bros. Television Distribution

Everyone is well aware of the sexual nature of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Auditioning for the role of Anastasia Steele was mostly for actresses who were ready to step out of their comfort zone and experiment with their acting. Sadly, Lucy Hale was too young when she decided to take on the challenge. In her interview with AP Entertainment, Hale admitted that she was mortified to do the audition because “the monologue was sexually forward” and she didn’t even understand some implications behind the lines back then. The Pretty Little Liars actress still thinks it was a good experience for her, since it helped her to overcome fear.

4 Jake Gyllenhaal for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

     Open Road Films

Do you ever think about how different it would have been if Jake Gyllenhaal played Frodo in Lord of the Rings? It might have happened if only he knew he was supposed to use the British accent during his audition. In his interview with Jimmy Fallon, Gyllenhaal recalled how he completely bombed the audition in front of Peter Jackson himself. The audition was apparently such a disaster that Jackson told him he’s “the worst actor he has ever seen.” Well, everything happens for a reason, right? Gyllenhaal has since appeared in many critically acclaimed movies and given several strong performances.

3 Eddie Redmayne for Star Wars

Michael B. Jordan wasn’t the only renowned actor to fail his audition for The Force Awakens. Fantastic Beasts actor Eddie Redmayne also tried his luck for the role of the villainous Kylo Ren. In an interview with Uproxx , Redmayne recalled just how catastrophic the audition was. In the same manner as Jordan, he said: “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.” Ten attempts later, he still didn’t manage to impress the casting director, Nina Gold.

2 Henry Cavill for Casino Royale

Henry Cavill is well known for playing Superman, but he also had the opportunity to be James Bond. The actor shared that he was very close to getting the role for 2006’s Casino Royale. It ultimately came down to him and Daniel Craig. Cavill was 23 at the time, while Craig was 38. In 2019, Cavill shared with People that he didn’t prepare for the role as well as he could have, and hadn’t trained to get the Bond physique. In 2022, he added to GQ that he was probably too young, and not ready for such a role at the time. His career soared nevertheless, albeit in a different direction from the famous spy.

1 John Krasinski for Captain America: The First Avenger

     Paramount Pictures 

Yes, John Krasinski, a.k.a Jim from The Office, was one of the top candidates for the role of Captain America before they contacted Chris Evans. During his visit to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, he shared a hilarious story from his audition. He recalled: “I was putting the suit on, and I was halfway up — not wearing any clothes other than this — and [the suit] was halfway up. And right at that moment, Chris Hemsworth walked by, and he was like, ‘Ya look good, mate.” Krasinki joked that after seeing Hemsworth’s jacked body, he gave up and went home. Turns out he tried his best during the audition, but unfortunately didn’t get the part. Which worked out: if Krasinski had been locked in a multi-film MCU contract, he might not have had time to write and direct A Quiet Place and subsequently launch a new horror film franchise.