Everyone fantasizes about the glamor and glitz that comes with being an A-list Hollywood
actor. Whether it’s the fame, the seven-figured paychecks, working with profound directors,
or getting the chance to film in exotic destinations, it’s not hard to imagine why an actor would
put so much pressure on their auditions. But it would seem as though some put a little
too much pressure on themselves. One actor even went so far as to hit a co-star right
across the face in the audition room. That’s not all, would you believe us if we told you
that one celebrity even stopped showering for a while hoping it would make her seem
less attractive in order to get the role of their dreams? Guess you will just have to
stick around as we spill the tea as to which of your favorite Hollywood actors seriously
took their auditions way too far. And as always don’t forget to subscribe to the Rumor Juice
channel.
Margot Robbie
There is no doubt that this Suicide Squad star made quite the impression during her
audition with Leonardo DiCaprio for her impressive role in The Wolf of Wall Street.
During her audition, she had a sneaky feeling that neither Leo nor director Martin Scorsese
was taken by her. In a panic, she thought to herself she only has 30 seconds left to
do something really impressive to get them to remember her. Margot took a deep breath
and told herself this is (quote) "once-in-a-lifetime chance, just take it".
So while reading a scene with the Oscar winner, Margot and Leo started yelling at each other
as directed in the script.
“And so I start screaming at him and he’s yelling back at me. And he’s really scary.
I can barely keep up.”
In the heat of the moment Margot decided to stir things up a bit and instead of walking
up to Leo and giving him a kiss, as per the script, she decided to rather give him a big
slap in the face and scream “Fuck You” at her future co-star.
Clearly, this risk paid off as she got a call a few days later saying she got the part.
We wonder if Leo DiCaprio was nervous to reprise this scene when they started shooting, hopefully,
she went a little easier on the poor guy.
Shia LaBeouf
It shouldn't come as a surprise for you to find Shia on our list, as he is already pretty
well known for his... out of the box thinking. And this actor has definitely never shied
away from sharing a little too much information with his fans.
Shia was a fan of director Lars von Trier for many years and desperately wanted to work
with him on his then latest film. However, Shia was very aware of how (quote) "real",
the director wanted the film to be. And Shia definitely, might have, just, pushed this
realness a bit too far.
During a press tour for the film Shia admitted that in order to capture the realness, he
was convinced Von Trier was looking for, he sent him actual footage of him and his then-girlfriend…
Let's just say in compromising positions.
Talking about how desperately he wanted the part, Shia admitted,
"I don't know what it's going to be until I get out there. I know he's a very dangerous
director, I know we're trying to do something different. It's not your typical film.”
Considering the actor's eccentric reputation, it’s hard to know when to take him seriously,
but it’s not hard to believe that this is how the actor landed his dream role.
Dakota Johnson
Now you might think that celebrities would be self-conscious about taking their clothes
off during an audition and fair enough some of them probably are, but at one point Dakota
Johnson was convinced that this was the one thing she should do in order to land a role.
While auditioning for an unannounced film, Melanie Griffith’s daughter shocked everyone
in the room when she got so into character that she impulsively removed her top… going
completely bare... without EVER being asked.
“I had an audition, and I got really into it, got really into the scene and it was really
dramatic and I took my shirt off,”
So what did she do when the scene ended? Well, the actress just embarrassingly had to walk
across the room to where her shirt was on the floor and put it back on while they were
giving her feedback.
Although some might think that this is quite out of the box thinking, looking back Johnson
confesses,
“It’s still embarrassing, and I’m more embarrassed that I just told that story.”
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence is one of the most popular and recognizable celebrities on the planet
and has certainly taken the world by storm.
This relatable actress has shown time and time again why she is regarded as one of Hollywood’s
bests as she will go to any lengths to ensure that she gets what she wants.
Although it was not her first movie, Jennifer’s breakout role was for her compelling performance
in 2010’s Winter’s Bone. Playing a poverty-stricken teen, who cares for her mentally ill mother
and younger siblings. But it certainly was no easy task getting this role especially
when the director, Debra Granik, originally told her that she was too pretty for the part.
Kind of a compliment though right?
But true to her uber-competitive nature Lawrence was not ready to give up on this chance of
a lifetime even after they turned her down. She decided that she was going to change everyone’s
mind by convincing them she is not that attractive. So she hopped on a red-eye to New York, refused
to sleep, walked 13 blocks in the snow, causing her to show up with a runny nose, and just
in case that wasn’t enough she also didn’t wash her hair for quite some time. Hoping
this would make her seem less attractive.
These extreme measures clearly worked, as she landed the role and earned her first-ever
Oscar nomination for Best Actress – making her the second-youngest nominee ever. This
certainly paved the way for her many roles to come and showed everyone in the business
that she was a performer committed to any role thrown at her.
Michelle Pfeiffer
We all know Michelle Pfeiffer as the blonde bombshell in Love Field and Batman Returns,
but we can assure you there was a time that someone like Al Pacino wasn’t sure if Pfeiffer
was the right fit for her iconic role in Scarface.
Director Brian De Palma, however, thought Pfeiffer would be perfect to play Pacino’s
lover. But for some reason unbeknownst to man, the actor just didn’t rate the young
actress.
Some could understand Pacino’s mindset given Michelle’s last acting credit was for Grease
2 which turned out to be a major box-office bomb and was nothing near as iconic as its
predecessor.
But Pfeiffer knew that this was a role she could not let slip through her fingers and
she refused to give up! The actress went on to audition several times over a three-month
period and let’s just say that things, unfortunately, went from bad to worse.
“I was terrified and I was really young and I knew he didn’t want me, as it went
on, the worse I got because I got so afraid.”
Eventually, the director decided to take his lead actor’s side and let Michelle go, all
devastated…
But that was not the end, as this story at least comes with a happy ending…sort of.
Just a month later Michelle got a surprise call back and had to return to the audition
room for a screen test. Convinced that she had already blown her chance, Pfeiffer wasn’t
afraid during the screen test and saw it more as a practice round for future auditions.
But then tragedy struck,
“We did the restaurant scene ... where I kind of freak out, I threw dishes and everything
went flying and I broke things. There was blood everywhere!”
Yea, you heard right, she said blood. Michelle went so overboard during the audition that
she ended up injuring the great Al Pacino in the process. But luckily it wasn’t in
vain as Michelle luckily got the part.
Riz Ahmed
Now some casting stories are pure destiny while others, well. . . they’re a little
less graceful. One example? Riz Ahmed, who went all out for the role as Bodhi Rook in
Rogue One.
Seems as though this actor was just a teeny, tiny bit forceful in pursuing his role — basically
stopping just short of Jedi mind tricks.
When director Gareth Edwards first approached Ahmed about the role, he asked him to submit
an audition tape and provided him with his personal e-mail — which, Ahmed joked, “was
a big mistake.” The actor started by sending two audition
tapes. The director was impressed saying, “I thought, Wow, this guy’s got range,”
But rather than promising Ahmed the role immediately, Edwards had to double-check with the producers
and others a little higher up. However, Ahmed did not stop there, thinking that perhaps
the two videos just weren’t enough. As days passed, the actor just kept on sending
tapes, in fact, he sent a whopping 12 tapes in total.
“I started getting into costumes and doing weird accents, I kept spamming him.”
After a six-day e-mail siege, Edwards e-mailed back, begging him to stop and reassuring the
actor they will call him when they are ready. When Edwards finally did call him back, Ahmed
was convinced it was to take out a restraining order, but luckily for this dedicated actor
that was far from the case.
That’s all for today folks!