14 Actors That Almost Didn’t Get the Part Because of Their Appearance

The life of luxury that some actors lead has surely made us think that everything has been easy for them. But from time to time, they share stories that show they also have their bittersweet moments, especially in the beginnings of their careers. Of course, they came out of all those moments with their heads held high.

Bright Side wants to share some situations in which the actors’ looks got them in real trouble when auditioning for a role.

1. Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley’s performance in Pride and Prejudice was a great one indeed, but at first, the movie’s director was not sure it was a good idea to give her the role. In an interview, the actress revealed that Joe Wright was hesitant because he thought Keira was too pretty. “Then we met and he said, ’Oh, no, you’re fine,’” the celebrity added.

2. Andrew Garfield

Andrew Garfield managed to get to the last stage of casting together with 2 actors for the role of Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. But his excitement didn’t last, as he was told that the role would not be his because “he was not handsome enough.”

3. Hugh Grant

Hugh Grant actually had to face the opposite situation. He was almost left out of the movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral because screenwriter Richard Curtis didn’t want him as the protagonist of the film because he thought he was too attractive to be Charles. Luckily, the actor finally won his place in the production thanks to his pure talent.

4. Henry Cavill

Today, it would be strange to learn that somebody thought Henry Cavill wasn’t fit for a role, but that wasn’t the case when he started acting. When he was 21 years old, he auditioned for a James Bond movie, but the director not only denied him the part but also suggested that next time he should focus on getting in shape if he ever wanted to play a character like James Bond.

5. Meryl Streep

When Meryl Streep wanted to be cast in King Kong, she had to face a rather unpleasant experience. The actress revealed in an interview what a producer told his son in Italian: “What an ugly woman.” What he surely didn’t expect was for Streep to hear him and understand perfectly what he had just said. She replied, “I’m sorry I’m not pretty enough to be in King Kong.”

6. Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint

It was the creator of the Harry Potter world herself who confessed that this trio of actors was not the right choice to bring the characters of Hermione, Harry, and Ron to life. J. K. Rowling said that the actors were “too cute,” contrary to how she had imagined her characters: nerdy and unattractive.

7. Jamie Dornan

The Fall star, Jamie Dornan, stole the show because, as his co-star, Gillian Anderson, once said, “The intention at the beginning was not to hire someone so attractive. But it was clear that he was the right person for the job.”

8. Jennifer Lawrence

Winter’s Bone launched Jennifer Lawrence to fame, but the actress was initially rejected for the role because she was “too pretty.” Even so, she decided to give herself a second chance and auditioned again, now without bathing or combing her hair, which helped her to be seen more for her talent than for her physique.

9. Scarlett Johansson

One of the movies Scarlett Johansson wanted to be part of was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But while the film’s director, David Fincher, confessed that “Scarlett was amazing. Her audition was fantastic,” he also thought the actress was too “sexy,” and that wasn’t what he needed for the film.

10. Alicia Silverstone

Prior to her huge success as the lead in the film Clueless, Alicia Silverstone auditioned for the lead role in the drama series, My So-Called Life. Although one of the production’s creators wanted to cast her right away, Herskovitz, the co-producer, said no. Apparently, her physique didn’t fit the character of the teenage girl she’d play: “Alicia is so beautiful that it would have affected her experience of the world. People have been telling her she’s pretty since she was 6 years old,” Herskovitz said.

11. Jon Hamm

Matthew Weiner, the creator of the TV series, Mad Men, explained that this was something that also made him hesitant about giving Hamm the job in this production because “in 2006 there were no handsome leading men. It wasn’t the style.”

12. Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder’s early career was full of ups and downs. She revealed how in the middle of an audition, a casting director once interrupted her and said, “Listen, kid, you shouldn’t be an actress. You’re not pretty enough. You should go back to wherever you came from and go to school.”

Although Ryder was only 15 or 16 years old at the time, she took the casting director’s words with maturity and continued to fight for her dream until she became the renowned actress she is today.

Although actors took these things with a bit of grace, we’re sure such experiences were somewhat uncomfortable. How do you think you’d react if you were told that because of your physique you wouldn’t get a job?