8 Embarrassingly Bad Movie Auditions Starring Famous Actors

by Danny Meegan

1. Gerard Butler (Dracula 2000)

Role? Dracula.

Did he get the part? Yes. Astonishingly.

Gerard Butler isn't known for his magnificent acting chops, but rather, his charisma, charm and ability to pull off a convincing action hero.

It's quite amazing then, that in his audition for the spectacularly bad Dracula 2000, he displayed none of the above, but still got the part.

Hamming it up while cosplaying as a homeless Severus Snape who's high on crystal meth, Butler spouts a load of poorly-judged philosophical, existential baloney about salvation and last sunsets for the full duration of a cringe-inducing two minute audition.

This was very early on in his career too, before The Phantom of the Opera, Reign of Fire and Tomb Raider, and without that proven star power, it's quite hard to see exactly what compelled the casting director to give him the role.

What's the worst audition on this list? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!