Entertainment

Actors Are Sharing The Iconic Roles They Just Barely Missed Out On (17 Tweets)

Fame is a fickle mistress. Some people seem to really have that “star quality” that makes you think they will go on to be big on the silver screen. Other people were clearly just in the right place at the right time, or there was a coin toss between them and another actor who looks exactly like them. Fate or luck can determine a great deal about success, and no one knows that better than the actor who makes it to the final callback…and doesn’t book the role.

Actor Charlie Condou is probably a familiar face, but not quite as familiar as Martin Freeman, who Condou was up against for a very famous UK TV role.

He tweeted, “Actors: what part did you go up for and not get, which would’ve changed your career? I’ll start. Martin Freeman’s part in The Office.”

You might remember Tim Canterbury, who became Jim Halpert in the American version of The Office. Martin Freeman remained Martin Freeman and then got even more famous.

The question about what role they just missed out on that would have changed the course of their lives was a great one for actors who wanted to brag about just how close they got to something. Or to lie about it, because there’s no way for us to check that all of these people are telling the truth. 

Who wouldn’t want to brag that they were almost a Skywalker, or friends of someone who almost was a Skywalker:

It seems like every actor in England was almost a character in the Lord of the Rings franchise:

Or almost became a new morning show face:

Remember Normal People from like, yesterday? This girl was almost the Marianne we all complained was too good-looking:

Many people also came close to Harry Potter:

And some shows have so many characters that actors can’t believe they haven’t made it on yet:

In some cases, the amount of work people put in just to be rejected is pretty incredible:

But not everyone is bitter about missing out, recognizing some things are meant to be (or not to be):

And some of them are downright grateful that they didn’t end up getting cast in something that turned out kinda bad. Their career would have taken a turn in a different direction:

You never know where life will take you, like to a very interesting thread about casting.

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