14 Actors Who Apparently Almost Played Star-Lord In "Guardians Of The Galaxy" Before Chris Pratt Was Cast

    Kudos to Chris Pratt because these are some seriously impressive actors.

    Joseph Longo
    by Joseph Longo

    BuzzFeed Staff

    For nearly a decade, Chris Pratt has played Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy film series. He's become a major cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; however, in an alternate universe, Star-Lord, aka Peter Quill, wasn't synonymous with Chris.

    Closeup of Chris Pratt as Star-Lord
    Marvel/YouTube / Via youtube.com

    1. On Wednesday, Adam Brody mentioned in an interview with Variety that he auditioned for and wanted to play the character, who debuted as part of the MCU in 2014.

    Closeup of Adam Brody
    Amanda Edwards / FilmMagic

    "I wanted that one," Adam told Variety in an interview while running down a list of films in which he was in various stages of consideration for roles, including Gigli, Shattered Glass, and an old version of The Justice League. Still, Brody understood why Chris was ultimately cast in Guardians. "He's better for it than me. He's bigger, stronger," he said, though noting "tonally, I really dug it."

    Adam is far from the only actor who at one point or another circled the lead Guardians role. Here are 13 other celebs who reportedly were in consideration to play Star-Lord:

    2. Lee Pace

    Closeup of Lee Pace
    Mike Marsland / Mike Marsland / WireImage

    In 2012, Lee Pace opened up to MTV News about preparing to audition for the role. "I have been [reading up on Star-Lord]," he told the publication. "You want to know what you're doing. The character is a lot of fun. I hope it works out." While Lee wasn't cast as Star-Lord, he did join the film in another role: the antagonist Ronan the Accuser. He reprised the character in 2019 for Captain Marvel.

    3. Joel Edgerton

    Closeup of Joel Edgerton
    Ernesto Ruscio / Getty Images

    According to IndieWire, Joel Edgerton was one of several actors who tested for the role. Joel has gone on to do everything from directing films (The Gift and Boy Erased) to star in hit movies (The Great Gatsby and Loving) and continue his appearance in the Star Wars franchise as Owen Lars.

    4. Eddie Redmayne

    Closeup of Eddie Redmayne
    Mike Marsland / Mike Marsland / Getty Images for OMEGA

    Eddie Redmayne was also mentioned in IndieWire's report. Not getting cast certainly didn't hurt Eddie's career as he soon after won an Oscar for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

    5. Jack Huston

    Closeup of Jack Huston
    Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

    IndieWire named Jack Huston. He went on to appear in films like American Hustle, The Irishman, and House of Gucci.

    6. Sullivan Stapleton

    Closeup of Sullivan Stapleton
    Sam Tabone / Getty Images for GWB Entertainment

    IndieWire named Sullivan Stapleton, too. His subsequent acting work included starring on Blindspot for five seasons and in 300: Rise of an Empire.

    7. James Marsden

    Closeup of James Marsden
    Neilson Barnard / Getty Images for amfAR

    IndieWire also named James Marsden. His career is continuing on just fine with notable roles in Anchorman 2, the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and TV series Westworld and Dead to Me. He also just scored his first Emmy nomination earlier this year for the comedy series Jury Duty.

    8. Garrett Hedlund

    Closeup of Garrett Hedlund
    Robin L Marshall / WireImage

    Garrett Hedlund was named by IndieWire, too. Ironically, according to the Daily Beast, Chris auditioned for the role of Sam Flynn in the 2010 film TRON: Legacy, which ultimately went to Garrett. Though he didn't land Guardians, Garrett has gone on to star in films like Pan, Mudbound, and The United States vs. Billie Holiday, as well as the series Mosaic and Tulsa King.

    9. Jim Sturgess

    Closeup of Jim Sturgess
    Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

    In 2013, Jim Sturgess told MTV News of his audition for Star-Lord, "I got way further than I'd ever imagined I possibly could. As you get further and further down the line, you start caring about it more and more. The competitiveness in you starts kicking in. But I was amazed I'd gotten as far down the line as I did." In fact, Jim told the publication he remained in the running long enough that he partook in an unexpected costume fitting. "You should have told me! I would have been crunching in the dressing room!" he recalled. He's since had leading roles in the series Feed the Beast and Home Before Dark among other acting work.

    10. Zachary Levi

    Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images

    In 2021, Zachary Levi told the Playlist that he wanted the role of Star-Lord "so bad, like so, so, so, so bad." However, he's at peace with losing out on the role. In fact, he thinks that having hopefully left "a good impression" while auditioning with Guardians director James Gunn is what helped him land the lead role of Billy Batson in the Shazam! movies. James's friend and collaborator Peter Safran produced Shazam! "I'm indebted to James that he would believe in me enough to remember that and pass that info on," he said.

    11. Joseph Gordon-Levitt

    Closeup of Joseph Gordon-Levitt
    Steve Granitz / FilmMagic

    In 2013, Deadline reported that Joseph Gordon-Levitt had been added to the list of actors in contention for Star-Lord.

    12. Michael Rosenbaum

    Closeup of Michael Rosenbaum
    Rodin Eckenroth / The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

    In 2017, Michael Rosenbaum opened up to the Hollywood Reporter about auditioning for the role in front of James, his friend, noting things didn't get weird between them after Chris booked the part. "The way I look at it…I was privileged to be one of the few people that got to screen test. I was so honored and grateful that James had me audition," he said. Seems like things really were fine because Michael went on to play the character of Martinex in both Guardians sequels.

    13. John Gallagher Jr.

    Closeup of John Gallagher Jr.
    Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

    In 2017, James Gunn told the Daily Beast that John Gallagher Jr. auditioned for Star-Lord. "He wasn’t right for that role, but it was one of the best auditions — if not the best audition — I’d ever seen in my entire life. The guy is a real actor," he said. The director and actor would later work together on the 2016 film, The Belko Experiment.

    14. Glenn Howerton

    Closeup of Glenn Howerton
    Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images

    Finally, there's Glenn Howerton. He was reportedly James's second choice to play Star-Lord. In 2021, Glenn said on The Kelly Clarkson Show that no one told him how close he was to securing the role. "I went and auditioned for it like I think a lot of actors did. I had no idea how close I got. I walked out of there, and I was like, 'Ya, it went OK.' But actually, as I was walking out of the waiting room, I saw Chris Pratt, and I remembered thinking, 'Oh, he's perfect for this.'"