12 Actors and Actresses That Got Their Roles Thanks to Some Weird Circumstances

To get their best roles, actors and actresses often have to walk a long and difficult path. But sometimes, they got roles due to some really unexpected reasons. Some got roles by accident, others had to convince directors, and some had a bad appearance experiment.

We at CHEERY were amazed by the fact that many actors got their famous roles not thanks to their talent, but due to more unusual reasons.

Ryan Gosling

It’s unbelievable but the reasons why Ryan Gosling got the part in The Notebook was because he “wasn’t handsome”. According to director Nick Cassavetes, at the time, the actor looked like a regular guy. Gosling later said in an interview, “Every role I got up until The Notebook was the weirdo, freak, psychopath, nerd, outside character guy. I think things have changed.”

Emma Watson

Today, it sounds really crazy for most Harry Potter fans but Emma Watson might have not got the part of Hermione if Joanne Rowling hadn’t met her in person. The writer thought that Watson was too good-looking for the role.

But Emma still got the part, and it happened after a phone conversation between the writer and Watson. Rowling said, “I fell absolutely in love with her... She spoke for, like, 60 seconds at least without drawing breath and I just said, “Emma, you’re perfect.”

Jason Momoa

A lot of people love Jason Momoa for his roles in Game of Thrones and Aquaman. It’s interesting that he got his Khal Grogo part thanks to a dance. It was a ceremonial Maori dance. Of all the men that auditioned for the role, he was the best.

Ben Affleck

According to director Fincher, he wasn’t planning to invite Ben Affleck before he saw a photo of him smiling. That picture was made by paparazzi, so the smile on Ben’s face was awkward. But it was exactly what Fincher needed for one of the key scenes in the film.

Marlon Brando

The Godfather producers didn’t want to hire Marlon Brando because they thought his behavior was unacceptable. But during the casting, in order to get the part, the actor stuffed cotton balls in his mouth to look like a bulldog and put black shoe polish on his hair. This helped his get the role. And on the set, they used prosthetic teeth instead of cotton balls.

Chloë Grace Moretz

Chloë Grace Moretz wanted to get the role in Hugo so much that she decided to trick the casting directors. Her character had to have British accent that Chloë doesn’t have. But the girl tried to speak British, and she was probably very convincing since she ended up getting the part.

Anne Hathaway

Anne is another actress that had to lie to get a part. It happened during the casting for Brokeback Mountain. The actress remembered that her parents told her to say “yes” if she was asked whether she could do something. Because if you want it, you can learn a lot in 2 weeks. This is why she said she could ride a horse when she was asked about it and learned to do it.

Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson got the part in Mad Max even though he wasn’t going to. He drove his friend to the audition and waiting for him outside. That day, his face was injured after a vicious fistfight. The director noticed him and invited him for the audition because they needed such people for some scenes. Gibson ended up getting the main role.

Harrison Ford

George Lucas conducted auditions for Star Wars for several months, testing dozens of actors per day. Ford was there and he was asked to be a stage partner for the actresses auditioning for Princess Leia. Lucas liked Ford so much that he gave him the role.

Julia Roberts

Before the role in Mystic Pizza, Julia Roberts had light hair. And when she came to the first audition, she was told she didn’t fit the role because of the appearance. So, she decided to dye her hair brown. Unfortunately, the color was too dark. But she still attended the next audition, and thanks to the wrong color, she got the part.

Kate Winslet

It’s hard to imagine that someone but Winslet could have portrayed Rose. But it wasn’t easy for Kate to get the role. She had to convince James Cameron to hire her. He wasn’t sure. Several days after the audition, Kate decided to remind Cameron about her and send him a rose with a card, “From Your Rose.”

Robert Pattinson

It’s strange, but Robert Pattinson was one of the first actors invited to Harry Potter. And it was because his previous work wasn’t good for him. Casting director Mary Selway saw him in the preview film Vanity Fair. She felt sorry for Robert because the scenes with him were deleted, so she decided to offer him a role in Harry Potter.

Do you know any other similar stories about actors? We’d be glad to read them.