The idea of someone fluffing up their resume with made-up stuff might sound like something
straight out of a sitcom…
"I don't have to say anything.
I'm a doctor too."
...but there have been plenty of actors who've been caught red-handed using made-up achievements
to get onto the red carpet.
Here are just a few actors who've lied to get the part.
Laura Fraser
When the producers of AMC's hit series Breaking Bad asked actress Laura Fraser (I apologize
to any German's watching this) "Sprichst du Deutsch?" she answered with an unequivocal
"Ja!"
The truth was, though, that Fraser had barely any experience with German — unlike her
character, the conniving, anxious, stevia-loving Lydia Rodarte-Quayle.
She didn't regret the decision, but she did have to eat her words later when she was handed
a full paragraph of German dialogue...and had to wing it.
(German speaking clip from Breaking Bad)
Fraser told The Daily Mail,
"It was corporate-speak German, and it was a nightmare.
It took me days to learn a little paragraph."
The benefit, apart from the fact that she got the role, of course?
"Now I bore my family with it — it's my party trick."
Eddie Redmayne
Now that he's an Oscar winner, Eddie Redmayne probably doesn't have to use a phony bio to
get his role of choice.
But once upon a time, he was an up-and-comer who would say and do anything to score a key
part.
When he went out for the British TV series Elizabeth I, Redmayne claimed to be able to
ride a horse when, well, he couldn't.
"woooooooeeeeeoooooooaaaa"
After casually lying to director Tom Hooper and being given a scene on horseback two weeks
later, the truth came out.
As he remembered to Vanity Fair,
"I gave my horse a nudge and it went off at a hundred miles an hour … I was sent to
horse camp immediately."
Hooper must not have minded the deception too much because he also hired Redmayne for
his big screen adaptation of Les Miserables and his 2015 film, The Danish Girl.
Hooper may have gotten a little payback, though, by having Redmayne jump on horseback with
a flag during Les Mis, said Redmayne.
"That was my penance.
My payback for that lie to him years ago."
Carla Gugino
When she was 16, Carla Gugino nabbed her first film role in Troop Beverly Hills by claiming
that she was just 14.
She didn't confess until later in the shoot, when her role was already safe.
She recounted the event to talk show host James Corden.
"I told the director like three weeks in, once I knew I couldn't get fired 'cause we'd
shot enough.
I was like, 'Just so you know, I am 16.'
I thought for sure he was gonna be like, 'No big deal,' but he was like, 'I would've never
hired you if I knew you were 16.'"
With that, Gugino learned her lesson about lying, and vowed she's never done it again.
Whoopi Goldberg
Born Caryn Elaine Johnson, Whoopi Goldberg's stage name is just part of the image adjustment
that went into giving the award-winner her start in entertainment.
Early on in her illustrious career, she had to fake being older in order to nab worthy
roles, because she was seen as too young for showbiz.
On her resume, she switched her year of birth from 1955 to 1949, later explaining to The
Daily News:
"I lied about my age for a long time because nobody would hire me to act.
Everyone said I was too young.
So, when I was 20, I put six years on my life."
Unfortunately, starring in Theodore Rex put another ten years on Whoopi's life as well.
(Whoopi Goldberg flirts with a dinosaur)
George Lazenby
Australian model George Lazenby had almost no screen experience when he convinced producers
that he was qualified to step into Sean Connery's swanky shoes as James Bond.
"My name's Bond, James Bond."
"The new bond!"
Equipped with a false bio and a whole lot of bravado, Lazenby made it all the way to
an audition for the role in front of director Peter Hunt when he finally came clean about
his false credentials.
The bold move impressed Hunt so much that he was willing to overlook the truth.
Lazenby told The New York Post that Hunt swore him to secrecy, saying,
"What?
And you say you can't act?
You've fooled two of the most ruthless men I've ever met in my life.
Stick to your story, and I'll make you the next James Bond."
Lazenby starred in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and was even contracted for many
more Bond films.
But he bowed out due to creative differences, returning the role to Sean Connery.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Bond, James Bond."
Lazenby, Connery...doesn't matter.
Because we can all agree that Daniel Craig's the best, right guys?
Right?
"I like that James Bond is ugly now!"
"I like that he doesn't have any gadgets!"
"I like that he's not good at shooting, doesn't say funny quips, or do any James
Bond stuff!"
Just kidding Timothy Dalton all the way!
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