The manner in which an actor is picked up for a role can sometimes be kind of odd since it’s not always a perfect audition process that gets them in the door, nor is it knowing the right person. Sometimes it’s just blind luck that finds them and propels the actors to greatness with one role or another. People might not want to believe it, but the fact that so many things happen from time to time proves that fate is a fickle mistress and can be favorable at times to those that are in the right place at the right time is hard to deny. Some actors might have lucked out in a big way and not gone on to do much after being picked for one role or another, but a lot of people that have had a successful career or have been doing their best to stay on top have stories of how they got to their current spot that might make quite a few fans laugh.
Here are a few crazy stories of how various celebrities landed their roles.
5. A strained smile is what gave Ben Affleck a chance in Gone Girl.
You know that strained smile that’s not really genuine and gives the impression that a person doesn’t want to be where they’re currently at? That’s the kind of facial expression that won Affleck the role in Gone Girl. While he was already plenty famous going into this movie it’s still amusing to think that someone saw this smile and figured that it would be a great idea to cast him in the movie simply because he could look uncomfortable. One might think that a smile that beams as large as the Cheshire Cat would be wanted for a role like this, but obviously the director was looking for something else.
4. Less was more for Jennifer Lawrence when auditioning for Winter’s Bone.
Lawrence actually walked into an audition looking disheveled in order to show that she could play the part of a young woman that came from a dysfunctional family and didn’t care that much about her appearance. It was still believed that she was too pretty for the role at one point, but she went as far as walking in the sleet and didn’t bother with makeup to convince those that needed convincing that she could be plain enough to take on the role. Something must have clicked with those in charge since she was given the role, but watching the movie makes it apparent that she’s still attractive without makeup.
3. Topher Grace had an awkward audition for That 70s Show.
It sounds as though Topher had no experience whatsoever and his headshot was a picture of him and his friends. The resume he used was a generic type that detailed the work he’d done in various locations and might have managed to get him laughed at in many crowds, but perhaps it was the awkward nature of it that managed to get him the role he was going for. In any case, he was given the part on That 70s Show that ended up making him famous and helped to launch his career in such a big way. But it would have been interesting to be there when he was trying to explain his resume and headshot.
2. Shia LaBeouf actually experimented with LSD for a role.
People are kind of divided when it comes to Shia LaBeouf since the guy has been great in some roles and absolutely horrible in others. But the idea that he dropped LSD at one point to get in the right frame of mind for a role is kind of insane. He even filmed the experience and sent it to his friends to see if he needed to work on the act at all. It kind of feels like this guy doesn’t get that when he does something for real there’s a good chance that the kind of risks he’s taking on are bound to get him in trouble or perhaps do worse and harm him in some way that he can’t ignore forever. But hey, it’s his life.
1. Harrison Ford was working as a carpenter on a Star Wars set when he was found by George Lucas.
This is one of those out of the blue moments that just happened to pay off since Harrison took to carpentry to pay the bills and wasn’t a big movie star yet. But when George Lucas had him read with Mark Hamill it became kind of obvious that Ford was someone that might be a good idea to take on as a character. From that point on Han Solo became a popular character that a lot of people felt they could relate to. Sometimes being in the right place helps.
Those moments can still happen from time to time.
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