Most of the time, when the actors are taken on a film, they tell us that they were very motivated for the role and that they worked hard to get it, and then it stops there (even if we knows that half of them were probably boosted by their agent or their mom was friends with the producer). So let’s change the habit a bit, and talk instead about the actors who got roles for slightly more original reasons. Strange reasons, even.
1. Samuel L. Jackson got caught in Pulp Fiction because he was silly
The day when Samuel L. Jackson was to audition for the role of killer Jules Winnfield, Quentin Tarantino was long overdue. He was in the thick of it, and that did not please the actor who had the slab. Samuel then decided to go get himself a milkshake and a burger, and when we finally called him to go past the director and the producer, he still had his food in hand. He walked into the room and bit into his burger giving Tarantino a killer look. From that moment on, it was clear: the role was for him.
2. Ryan Gosling was caught on Never Forget because he was “not good looking”
If, normally, Ryan Gosling is taken in films, it is because in addition to being a good actor, he is BG. But oddly, for Never forget, the director Nick Cassavetes took him for the role of Noah Calhoun because he found, on the contrary, that Ryan was neither handsome nor cool. According to him, the actor stood out from all the other BG actors in Hollywood. We do not know how Ryan took it, but a priori it must have been fine since he signed the contract. Now, we could go on at length about this movie being a huge, infamous purge, but that would take too long, so let’s jump straight to the sequel to this top.
3. Danny Trejo was caught on Runaway Train because a cocaine addict needed help.
Dany Trejo’s personal story is quite eventful, so we’ll make it short: before the movies, the guy had a career as a boxer, but also (and above all) as a criminal, which led him to 11 years jail for drug trafficking. Leaving prison, he did odd jobs and became a godfather to prevent former drug addicts from relapsing. This is where fate brought him on the set of Runaway Train, where one of his godchildren worked. The guy had called Danny to help him: on the set, there was a lot of cocaine, and he was afraid to dive again. His godfather – Danny, then – showed up to help him, and that’s when an assistant director spotted Danny and his badass looks. He offered to play a role as an extra, and Danny accepted.
Well, it was only a small role, but a role that launched his career, because the screenwriter of the film was none other than Eddie Bunker, a former criminal with whom Danny had already done business for twenty years. years earlier. Hearing this, Bunker hired Danny to train another actor to play a boxer, and one thing led to another, the guy became an established actor himself. Like what banditry opens doors. Well, especially prison doors in general, but not only.
4. Ben Affleck was hired for Gone Girl because his smile is fake.
When David Fincher had to find an actor for the lead role of his Gone Girl, his choice finally stopped on Ben Affleck for a funny reason. Fincher wanted his character – who is looking for his wife when everyone thinks he’s shot her – to have a special smile in front of the media. A smile of facade a little tense what. And when he saw Ben Affleck’s press photos, he noticed that the actor had this weird smile in all of his photos. Suddenly the guy was already in his role. Super practical.
5. Emma Watson was mistaken for Harry Potter because she talked too much
To play that annoying first of the class that is Hermione Granger, you needed a kid who looked like an annoying first of the class. This is where Emma Watson proved to be perfect. While she had been rejected at first because JK Rowling found her a little too pretty for the role, Emma one day made a phone call to the author. There she started talking nonstop for a minute, just like annoying girls who never know how to shut her up. Rowling was impressed by so much nuisance, and she admitted that Emma Watson was perfect for the role.
6. Wayne Knight got into Jurassic Park thanks to Sharon Stone’s legs
Wayne Knight didn’t even have to audition for the role of corrupt Jurassic Park programmer Dennis Nedry. In fact, it was Steven Spielberg who spotted it himself. The director wanted a guy with a sweaty face, and when he watched the cult scene of Basic Instinct where Sharon Stone crosses and uncrosses her legs, he found Wayne Knight’s face perfect. Spielberg said to himself: “what if instead of Sharon Stone, it was a dinosaur? » We don’t know if it’s nice for Sharon’s crotch, but it made the actor happy.
7. Mel Gibson landed his role in Mad Max because he beat himself up.
The day before his audition for the character of Max Rockatansky, Mel Gibson found himself despite himself in a fight in a bar, and he took a few loaves in the face in the process. A priori, it was bad luck, because it rarely makes a good impression to appear in front of the casters with a swollen mouth. Only, Mad Max was not a film like the others, it is precisely his swollen face that allowed Mel Gibson to land the role because the casters thought he looked like a monster. Luckily he hadn’t shown up to the auditions for Love at first sight in Nothing Hill.
8. Kit Harington also got his role in Game of Thrones because of a fight
We stay on the same idea with this story that we had already talked about in the top of the actors who landed a role in an amazing way, because yes, this good Kit got the role of Jon Snow by showing up at the auditions with an eye to the black butter. The day before, he had fought with another guy for a girl, and it left its mark. Fortunately for him, it pleased the casters who thought that a brawler suited the character well. Knowing that’s how he met the love of his life makes the story even cooler.
9. Jason Momoa starred in Game of Thrones because he did a haka
Let’s continue on Game of Thrones with the role of Khal Drogo, obtained by Jason Momoa. As the role is that of a bloodthirsty warrior and the casters had asked Momoa to transcribe the essence of the character without uttering a single word, the actor began to do a haka, the Maori warrior dance. It was bold, but it clearly worked as he impressed everyone and went home with the job in hand. All this without ever opening his mouth, like the real Khal Drogo.
10. Viggo Mortensen was taken on Lord of the Rings because he was old
Before the filming of Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson was decided: it was Stuart Townsend who was going to have the role. He had already proposed it to the actor, and the actor had said yes. But at the last minute, the director simply changed his mind. According to him, Aragorn had to be older. That’s how poor Townsend found himself without a role and Viggo Mortensen, of a more advanced age, nabbed him under the nose. The life of an actor is not easy.