10 Actors Who Admit To Bombing Big Auditions
Sometimes movie stars suck too.
It’s always fun to hear about actors who were almost cast in big roles - like Sean Connery turning down Lord of the Rings because he didn’t understand it - but sometimes there's a more straight forward, probably devastating reason. Because sometimes, actors miss out not because of scheduling conflicts or a lack of interest, but rather because they just aren’t good enough.
Most actors will tell you that the audition process is a pretty horrible experience. They're nerve-wracking, awkward and can bring down the self-confidence of even the most charismatic movie stars. And movie stars are people too. Some days they win awards and make millions of dollars. Some days they have terribly embarrassing auditions that haunt them forever.
This list includes some of today’s biggest stars, Oscar winners and, yes, some actors of questionable talent, but they all have audition horror stories brutal enough to make us actually feel sorry for them.
Bad accents, forgotten lines and even some song and dance - all these factors contributed to these painful experiences. So get ready to sympathize with some beautiful rich people as we look at the actor’s terrible auditions for big movies.
10. Bradley Cooper - Green Lantern
The movie: The 2011 attempt to bring the greenest DC hero to the big screen and finally make Ryan Reynolds a star. Neither dream was realized as the film tanked miserably. Warner Bros. will give it another try in 2020 and Reynolds has to settle for being a Marvel hero in Deadpool.
The actor: Before Reynolds made the mistake of donning the CGI super-suit, Bradley Cooper was given a shot.
At this point, Cooper was not the Oscar nominated superstar he is today. He was more known as the jerk in The Hangover, the jerk in Wedding Crashers or the audience member in Inside the Actor's Studio.
The audition: Cooper's excitement about playing a DC hero got the best of him and he picked an unfortunate inspiration for his performance:
“I couldn’t not do Christian Bale's Batman when I was doing the audition. I don’t know what it was! I put a mask on and the director was like, ’Okay Bradley, be regular and talk.’ And I was like, ’Yeah, got it… [in a deep, gravely Batman voice] listen, Sally, we’re going to have to take your family away if you don’t listen to me!’"