8 Times Actors Embarrassingly Campaigned For A Huge Movie Role

8. Tyrese Gibson - Django Unchained

Tyrese has built a steady career for himself playing supporting roles in the Fast & Furious and Transformers movies, but he’s never been able to break out as a leading man in his own right. So when the opportunity came up to play the lead in Django Unchained he gave it his best shot, passionately filming an audition tape that would show people - and especially Quentin Tarantino - new sides to Tyrese.

That was the thinking behind it anyway, but sadly the tape clearly showed he wasn’t the right guy. His attempt at a period outfit makes it look like he’s heading out to a club, and his cowboy accent is just appalling. He tries his best to be intense and threatening, but he just comes across mildly annoyed; and the less side of the little montage of sadness at the end, the better.

The tape ends with a quote - from Tyrese - about why it’s important for an actor to test their limits and people's preconceptions, and while that’s absolutely true, the tape was proof that sometimes preconceptions can be kind of right too.