Y ou have to have tough skin if you’re going to make it as an actor in television. It’s a cruel business wherein you have to get used to rejection very quickly.
Below is a list of actors who were rejected from various TV roles for unfair reasons . Have a look below and see how different your favorite show might’ve been , had the networks gone the other way.
1. Alden Ehrenreich was casting director David Rapaport’s first choice to portray Dan Humphrey in ‘Gossip Girl’.
Unfortunately for Alden, the producers of the series thought that he was just too short to be taken seriously as the love interest for Blake Lively.
For the record, Alden is 5’9″ and Blake is 5’10”.
To add insult to injury, the actor who ended up getting the part, Pen Badgley, was also 5’9″. Can someone please explain to me how that makes any sense at all?
2. Mindy Kaling was offered her own sketch comedy series, with one major caveat.
Before the network would give the show the green light, they made Mindy come in and audition to play herself! In the end, they deemed she wasn’t attractive enough.
“That network is no longer on the air, and The Office went on to be one of NBC’s most hit shows in years,” Kaling told ‘The Guardian’.
“I feel like karmically, I was vindicated, but at the time it felt terrible ,” she said.
3. Marc Maron believed that he blew a chance to be a part of ‘Saturday Night Live’ for taking a piece of candy from Lorne Michaels’ desk.
Lorne later went on Maron’s WTF podcast and clarified that the only reason Marc wasn’t hired was that the show didn’t have a spot for him at the time .
4. Elizabeth Olsen missed out on playing Danaerys Targaryen on ‘Game Of Thrones’ because her English accent wasn’t strong enough.
“They didn’t know if they wanted a British accent or not,” Elizabeth explained to Vulture. “So, you did it in both. It was terrible .”
5. Alyson Hannigan’s daughter was originally supposed to play Marshall and Lily’s second child in ‘How I Met Your Mother’.
At the last minute, the producers made the decision that Hannigan’s daughter was simply too old for the role.
6. Bob Odenkirk was told that he had secured the role of Michael Scott in ‘The Office’.
At the 11th hour, a project that Steve Carrell was working on fell through and the network made a last-minute lead swap . Odenkirk later appeared in the series in a cameo role.
7. Regé-Jean Page reportedly missed out on portraying Superman’s grandfather, Seyg-El, on ‘Krypton’ due to his race.
One of the producers allegedly said that it wouldn’t make any sense for Superman to have a Black grandfather. “Hearing about these conversations hurts no less now than it did back then,” Regé tweeted.
8. Chris Pine nailed his audition to portray Ryan Atwood on ‘The OC’.
At the time, however, Chris reportedly had very bad acne . As a result, he lost out on the role and the part went to Ben McKenzie.
9. Lisa Edelstein was slated to play Carrie Bradshaw in ‘Sex And The City’ and even had a contract drawn up.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be little more than a network bargaining chip . Once Sarah Jessica Parker committed, Lisa was given the heave-ho.
10. Teo Halm was cast as Elliot Matthews on ‘Girl Meets World’ and then quickly cut from production.
“So guys, Disney decided that it wouldn’t work to have an older brother on the show; I won’t be on Girl Meets World . Thank you to everyone,” Teo tweeted.
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11. Mark Webber was cast as Grey McConnell in the pilot episode of ‘Stumptown’.
Almost immediately afterward, he was fired and Jake Johnson was brought in as his replacement. According to Webber, the decision was made because he wasn’t handsome enough .
12. Alicia Silverstone was co-producer Edward Zwick’s number one pick to play Angela Chase in ‘My So-Called Life’.
Sadly, producer Marshall Herskovitz thought that Alicia was too pretty to play the part . That’s perhaps the greatest backhanded compliment I’ve ever seen.
13. Mädchen Amick came within inches of playing Lorelai on ‘Gilmore Girls’.
In an unfortunate turn of events, the network made the decision that she was simply not old enough to play a mother on TV . Wait, wasn’t that the whole point?
