When it comes to making it as an actor in Hollywood , very seldom are directors and casting agents willing to look beyond what they see on the surface.
You’re either too pretty or not pretty enough, more often than not. But every once in a while, someone comes along and defies expectations. Have a look below and check out these actors who were considered too ugly for a role (and actors who were too attractive ).
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Jessica Biel was too sexy to find work.
In 2005, Jessica was named Esquire ‘s ” Sexiest Woman Alive .” In the years that followed, directors would tell her that they were looking for the girl next door, not the sexiest woman on the planet.
Kate Winslet was told that her weight would limit her professional aspirations.
When Kate was first trying to make it as a young actress, she was told by her drama teacher that she may indeed have a legitimate shot at breaking into the business — so long as she was comfortable playing ” fat girl parts .”
Jessica Chastain was told for years how she wasn’t pretty enough to be a leading lady in Hollywood.
“Only in the past five years have people been telling me I’m attractive,” Jessica revealed to The Telegraph . “Before then, I wasn’t getting parts because people kept telling me I wasn’t pretty enough.”
Christina Hendricks claims that her curves have curbed many of her film aspirations.
Christina said that there have been multiple times where she’s felt as if she slew the audition, only to go home and get a phone call informing her that casting was going in a different direction . One time, she was told that doctors simply don’t look like her.
At first, director Joe Wright thought that Keira Knightley was all wrong for ‘Pride & Prejudice’.
To begin with, he thought that Keira was far too pretty for the role. Once filming began, he went as far as to ban her from pouting her lips while filming.
Reese Witherspoon was told she was too short and not pretty enough.
When Reese Witherspoon first came to L.A., all she heard was how she wasn’t tall or pretty enough to land a leading role. I personally think that anyone who would ever dare to call Reese Witherspoon unattractive should have their head examined.
People thought that Diogo Morgado was too hot to play Jesus Christ in ‘The Bible’.
Fans and critics felt that Diogo was so wrong for the part that they even began calling him ” Hot Jesus .” Diogo took the nickname in stride, reiterating that his performance has nothing to do with his looks.
Producers thought that Mindy Kaling wasn’t attractive enough to play herself in ‘The Mindy Project’.
Not only that, but initially studio executives believed that Mindy was too chubby and not nearly funny enough to be the lead in a show about her own life.
Emily Ratajkowski claims that directors don’t want to work with her because her boobs are too big.
“People don’t want to work with me because my boobs are too big,” Ratajkowski told Harper’s Bazaar Australia . “There’s this thing that happens to me: ‘Oh, she’s too sexy.’ It’s like an anti-woman thing.”
Lea Michele’s own agent told her she’d never make it in Hollywood without cosmetic surgery.
Before she landed her breakthrough role on Glee , Lea was told that if she wanted to be taken seriously as an actress, then she had to get a nose job .
Jon Hamm just wants you to laugh at him.
“I bring more to the table than what I represent physically,” he said in an interview with The Guardian . “And it’s a daily struggle to prove that. Obviously, it’s a lovely thing for people to say, but sometimes it comes with a [expletive] dig underneath.”
Meryl Streep was told that she was too ugly to star in ‘King King’.
When she arrived at her audition, the director reportedly asked his son (in Italian) “Why would you bring me this ugly thing?” What he failed to realize was that Meryl herself understood and spoke perfect Italian.
Spike Lee though that Halle Berry was far too pretty for her role in ‘Jungle Fever’.
Halle Berry was a pageant girl, a fact that many directors and casting agents were well aware of. Initially, Spike Lee wanted Halle to read the role of his wife. When the audition concluded, she had to beg him to let her read the role of Vivian .
Sarah Jessica Parker was once voted “Unsexiest Woman Alive” by Maxim magazine.
Other women included in the Top 5 were Britney Spears , Madonna, and Amy Winehouse. It’s no wonder that print is a dying industry when you have magazines publishing drivel like this.
Charlize Theron was considered far too pretty to be a serial killer in ‘Monster’.
Charlize had to go undergo serious physical changes and makeup in order to make herself “believable” in the role. In the end, she wound up taking home an Oscar for “Best Actress in a Leading Role.”