10 Actors Who Bombed Huge Auditions
4. Eddie Redmayne - The Hobbit
There is more than just one Baggins from The Shire that saw a huge name actor crash and burn while auditioning. Whereas Jake Gyllenhaal failed to impress as Frodo, a decade later it was Eddie Redmayne vying for the role of Bilbo in The Hobbit that led to his embarrassment.
Even the actor himself seemed confused when he received the call to read for the part, and decided to do something a little different to his usual routine, something he described as boring. Since this was for the younger version of a character previously brought to life, the Fantastic Beasts actor did a little homework.
In preparation, Redmayne studied Ian Holm, who brought Bilbo to life in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and decided to read his lines in that particular style. Based on his re-enactment on The Graham Norton Show, it was far from a good Bilbo Baggins impression, which isn't exactly what you want from an audition to play Bilbo Baggins.
He was told instead to read in his own voice, and ultimately never received a call back. Whether using his own voice or not, it's hard to picture Newt Scamander in the role ultimately taken by Martin Freeman, so yes, this was probably for the best