17 Famous Actors Who Got Their Parts By Doing Something A Little Different

Time to change up your interview prep.

Now we know that most actors just turn up to the audition and go from there. But there are some instances where an actor has landed the role in slightly stranger circumstances...

BBC

Here's some of the wildest reason actors got roles – you might want to take notes for future job interviews!

1. Harrison Ford was spotted by George Lucas while doing a carpentry job for Francis Ford Coppola, and got himself a role in Star Wars.

Paul Harris / Getty Images

As the iconic Han Solo, Harrison Ford had previously worked with George Lucas in the film American Graffiti. After that film, Ford went on to become a full-time carpenter to support his family. Lucas meanwhile was hesitant to recast any actors who had appeared in any of his most recent works. While hired to build a door at the offices where the casting was happening, Ford and Lucas luckily met again and the rest is history. As Han Solo would say ‘Never tell me the odds’.

2. Jason Momoa did the Haka for his Game of Thrones audition.

HBO

If you’re a big Game of Thrones fan like me, you’ll know how talkative Khal Drogo is. To convey this in an audition is impossible really- unless you’re Jason Momoa. Momoa, like Billy Elliot, used dance to get his message across. He knew that Khal Drogo hardly spoke and with a very bare script, he decided to do the Haka. The intensity of this impressed the production team who were as scared as any of us would be.

Moral of the story- practice your Haka now.

3. Ryan Gosling wasn’t considered good-looking and so that's exactly why he was cast in The Notebook.

New Line Cinema

 Now I’m sure most of you might assume Ryan Gosling’s looks might help to land some of his roles. The director of The Notebook, Nick Cassavetes, didn’t seem to think so telling Gosling ‘‘You’re not handsome, you’re not cool, you’re just a regular guy who looks a bit nuts.’’ I find that quite shocking because- Look at him.

4. Samuel L. Jackson was so mad after being mistaken as Lawrence Fishburne, that he smashed the audition for Pulp Fiction.

Miramax Films

I can’t imagine anyone else playing Jules Winnfield and it seems neither did Samuel L. Jackson. After he was close to losing his role to another actor, Jackson flew to L.A. for another audition where he was incorrectly addressed as Lawrence Fishburne. This infuriated Jackson even more so and he delivered that rage into his audition. He also did so while eating his takeaway, which was also a burger. Spooky.

5. Being drunk at an interview doesn't work for everyone, but it was perfect for Tim Roth in preparation for Reservoir Dogs.

Miramax Films

Now, this is a way we’d all like to have an interview. As he was bad at auditioning, Tim Roth refused to read for the part of Mr. Orange. Quentin Tarantino took Roth to a local pub and the two continued to drink. While drunk, they “proceeded to read the entire script… every part in it about 10 times because we were hammered by then. And that’s how I got the job.” A nice little tip that I’ll be taking.

6. Rory McCann was so angry that he didn’t have the right lines, that he went ballistic in his Game of Thrones audition.

HBO

Being underprepared for an audition or interview doesn’t generally work out well for most of us. If you’re The Hound, however, then you might just get away with it. Rory McCann’s sister printed out the opening lines by mistake and so the actor waited for four hours in the heat learning his lines. McCann said ‘When I walked into the room, I knew I had to go crazy, so I unleashed all of this’. If you’ve seen the Hound in GOT, then you’ll definitely agree that he kept that anger right throughout his time in the show.

7. And John Roberts impersonated his mum on Youtube and got spotted for Bob’s Burgers.

Donna Ward / Getty Images

Bob’s Burgers is one of my favourite shows, so I was shocked when I found this out. Linda Belcher is played by John Roberts, and you won’t believe how he got this role. In the early days of Youtube, Roberts made videos where he would dress up as his mum and speak in her distinctive accent. This caught the eye of creator Loren Bouchard and the rest is history. How quickly are you uploading your videos now?  

8. Harvey Stephens, the kid that played Damien in The Omen, kicked the director in the balls.

20th Century Fox

A movie that managed to make me distrust any child named Damien, The Omen was genuinely terrifying and was partly due to the performance of Harvey Stephens. After two days of auditioning, director Richard Donner decided to change it up. When it was young Stephen’s turn to audition he was encouraged to attack the director, in the same way the character does in the film. Stephens took this literally, scratched at his face, and kicked him right in the balls. I hope he carried this tactic into future auditions.  

9. Tom Hardy turned up at the director’s house at midnight the night before his audition for Warrior.

Lionsgate

We can agree, this one is pretty brave. Tom Hardy arrived in the US for his audition for the film Warrior and was supposed to go to the hotel. Instead, he turned up at the director’s house at midnight and ended up living with him for the next five days. Not a tactic we can all try.

10. The late James Michael Tyler landed his role in Friends because he knew his way around an espresso machine.

NBC

It seems impossible to imagine anyone else playing this role now, but James Michael Tyler was seemingly lucky that he was the only extra who knew how to work an espresso machine. Despite not having a line until the 33rd episode of the show, it’s safe to say that he became a fan favourite.  

11. Kit Harington got punched in the face in a McDonald’s and his black eye helped to convince directors he could survive in the violent world of Game of Thrones.

HBO

Another Game of Thrones actor that has an unusual story. Kit Harington was in a McDonald’s with his date when things turned ugly rather quickly. A fight ensued and Harington was gifted a black eye. Ironically when he turned up to his audition, Harington thought that his black eye helped get him his role.  

12. Rosario Dawson didn’t even have to leave the house to get her role in the film Kids, she was discovered sitting on her front-porch.

Shining Excalibur Films

So Rosario Dawson was just relaxing outside her house, when the screenwriter caught a glimpse of her and decided she would be perfect for the role. A 15 year old Dawson then went to the audition and propelled herself into an acting career that is still going strong to this day. 

13. Sylvester Stallone took the easy route and just wrote the script for Rocky himself – in three and a half days. And then cast himself.

United Artists

After watching the championship match between Muhammed Ali and Chuck Wepner, Sylvester Stallone decided to write his own script. He got his script approved but the producers and studios were reluctant to cast an unknown into the role. Stallone persisted and became Rocky, a role which he then became famous for. So there you go, just write your own script, cast yourself, and then become one of the biggest Hollywood stars. Easy.  

14. David Boreanaz was walking his dog past a friend of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer.

The WB

  This one sounds surreal but a neighbour of Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer Marti Noxon, knew that she needed to cast someone who was impossibly handsome. Boreanaz just happened to be walking by with his dog and was then eventually called in for an audition. Apparently the women in the room responded particularly well to David.  

15. After a very public argument with a bank teller, Charlize Theron was spotted by a talent manager who liked her enthusiasm. This led to her casting in Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest.

Universal Pictures

Charlize Theron was just 19 when she was spotted, having moved to the US from South Africa. After a cashier refused to cash her cheque, Theron became irate and had a very public argument. Her outburst in the bank caught the attention of talent manager John Crosby who then became her manager. She would then go on to star in Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest, eventually winning an Oscar.

16. Director Wes Craven’s daughter thought Johnny Depp looked ‘beautiful’ and insisted on him being cast in Nightmare on Elm Street.

New Line Cinema

On casting for Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven came across a young Johnny Depp. Depp’s audition wasn’t overly impressive, with him being exceptionally nervous at the time.   Craven was unconvinced as he also looked greasy, sickly and pale, although his daughter saw Depp’s headshot and thought differently. She made a good choice as Depp has become an award-winning actor with a pretty diverse filmography.

17. And finally, Wayne Knight got his role in Jurassic Park because of THAT Basic Instinct scene.

TriStar Pictures

 Wayne Knight was lucky enough to skip the audition entirely as Steven Spielberg had seen his now infamous role in Basic Instinct. Spielberg thought of the scene where he nervously watches Sharon Stone, and imagined what if that were a dinosaur. Knight then went straight to the first day of shooting managing to entirely bypass the audition process.