Films were once seen as superior to television in Hollywood, but with the rise of streaming
platforms and cable, television is enjoying a surge in popularity and prestige like never
before.
Now, even A-list talent is flocking to television to tackle meaty roles once reserved for the
big screen.
As the New Golden Age of Television stretches on, here are a few TV roles everyone in Hollywood
wanted to play.
Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City
It was Sarah Jessica Parker's career-defining role, but other actresses nearly donned sex
columnist Carrie Bradshaw's little tutu on the hit HBO comedy Sex and the City.
Series creator Darren Star initially asked China Beach and Desperate Housewives star
Dana Delany to play Carrie after seeing her onstage with Kim Catrall . Delany declined,
not wanting to be in a show about sex — although she encouraged Cattrall to accept the role
of Samantha.
Parker was next on Star's list, but she was unsure, so he offered the role to Linda Edelstein
- best recalled today for her role on House - as a backup.
Edelstein signed a contract, but Parker finally said yes, leaving Star to let Edelstein go.
Ouch.
As Carrie Bradshaw knows, breaking up is hard to do.
"Why is it so hard… for you to factor me into your life in any real way"
Don Draper, Mad Men
Don Draper is Sterling Cooper's best ad man, capable of selling anything from the Kodak
Carousel to Coca-Cola with equal parts showmanship and charm — and future Emmy winner Jon Hamm
needed to do some serious selling to convince AMC and series creator Matthew Weiner he was
the right man to fill Draper's immaculately tailored 1960s suits in Mad Men.
A virtual unknown at the time with a string of tiny film and TV credits, Hamm was basically
at the bottom of everyone's list.
Hamm revealed to podcast host Marc Maron that Mad Men's casting directors originally went
to Punisher star Thomas Jane — who promptly turned down their offer, saying he didn't
"do television."
Roger Sterling himself, actor John Slattery, initially auditioned to play Don, but Weiner
only wanted him for the wisecracking silver fox Sterling.
"They wanted me to read for is part, which "who wouldn't?" you know…
I thought I did a really good job actually."
With both Jane and Slattery out of the running, Weiner asked execs to look at two finalists:
Hamm and Younger's Peter Hermann.
AMC flew Hamm to New York, where he charmed programming execs over drinks at the Gansevoort
Hotel and won the role on the spot.
Doing business during cocktails?
Don Draper would surely approve.
Sam and Diane, Cheers
For the first half of Cheers' 11-season run, the show's comedy was propelled by the sexual
tension between egotistical, womanizing bar-owner Sam Malone and brainiac feminist waitress
Diane Chambers.
Their will-they-won't-they love/hate relationship became Must See TV and catapulted Ted Danson
and Shelley Long to Emmy-winning fame.
Coming off the success of Taxi, sibling writers Glen and Les Charles and director James Burrows
wanted to create another workplace comedy, but set in a bar — and they knew Sam and
Diane would be the key to making it work.
They saw hundreds of actors before narrowing it down to three pairs that were brought in
for a final audition: Ted Danson and Shelley Long, former football player Fred Dryer and
Newhart's Julia Duffy, and Knot's Landing's William Devane and Lisa Eichhorn.
While the team really liked Dyer and Duffy, the chemistry between Danson and Long was
instant and undeniable.
"This is it…we have sunk as low as human beings can sink."
Michael Scott, The Office
Steve Carell became a star thanks to his brilliant, cringe-worthy, and occasionally heartbreaking
turn as Dunder Mifflin's bumbling boss, Michael Scott.
Showrunner Greg Daniels auditioned actors a little differently for the show, conducting
interviews and having them improv answers as their characters.
That probably made it pretty hard.
"That's what she said…HAHAHAHA."
Auditions for the show were a veritable who's-who of comedy actors: Rainn Wilson was the first
person to audition for Michael, but Daniels felt he was far better suited for power-hungry
Dwight Schrute.
Hank Azaria [ from The Simpsons, Better Caul Saul's Bob Odenkirk, and Alan Tudyk all auditioned
for Michael as well, and NBC chief Kevin Reilly offered the role to Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti,
but he turned it down.
Universal Pictures chairwoman Stacey Snider encouraged the network to hire the ex-Daily
Show correspondent Carell, and the rest was sitcom history.
Negan - The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead fans spent months eagerly anticipating the introduction of Negan, the
show's most sadistic — and arguably most compelling — villain.
Of course, first the producers had to find just the right person to play him.
Punk rock icon and actor Henry Rollins told Forbes he was the inspiration for the character's
look in the original comic books, inspiring Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard.
Rollins tried out for the role, for which he thought he was a "shoo-in," but he didn't
get it.
Creator Robert Kirkman told MTV he thought Jon Hamm of Mad Men "would be perfect" for
Negan, and Hamm expressed interest.
Garret Dillahunt, the versatile character actor best known for playing the goofy grandpa
on Raising Hope and two separate characters on Deadwood, lobbied publicly on Twitter for
the role.
Evidently, none of them could swing it as well as the guy who got the part: Jeffrey
Dean Morgan.
Scandal - Olivia Pope
When word got out that Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes was working on a new show, lots
of actresses were interested.
Like Grey's Anatomy, that new series — titled Scandal — offered prime roles for women,
notably that of the lead character, Washington, D.C. "fixer" Olivia Pope.
Rhymes told The Hollywood Reporter that early on, one ABC exec argued Pope "would be perfect
for Connie Britton," to which she replied, "It would be, except Olivia Pope is black."
Rhymes had based the character on real-life D.C. problem-solver Judy Smith, who is African-American,
and she wanted to "honor her identity and heritage."
Gabrielle Union was a top contender, and told Access Hollywood Live that she and "half of
black Hollywood" were interested in the role, adding that she made it into the final round
of five or six actresses.
Taraji P. Henson, who'd go on to play Cookie Lyon on Empire, auditioned, but knew she wouldn't
get it.
"I auditioned for…Shonda Rhimes for Scandal.
I didn't..
Thank God Kerry got it."
Indeed, actress Kerry Washington got the gig — and she's perfect for it.
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