After an auditory modality , Gina Rodriquez was tell to " follow back in with a mean black-market dress " because the casting film director needed " to know if [ she ’s ] somewhat enough to be on the cover of a cartridge . "
Have you ever been in a job interview where they asked you a question that was a little off-color? In auditions, actors are probably used to weird questions or requests, like “pretend you’re in space.” Sometimes, however, the casting directors and other members of production push the envelope too far and end up crossing the line.
Here are 15 wild, weird, and gross things actors were asked to do in auditions:
1.In 2024,Anne HathawaytoldV Magazine, “Back in the 2000s — and this did happen to me — it was considered normal to ask an actor to make out with other actors to test for chemistry, which is actually the worst way to do it. I was told, ‘We have ten guys coming today, and you’re cast. Aren’t you excited to make out with all of them?’ And I thought, ‘Is there something wrong with me?’ because I wasn’t excited. I thought it sounded gross.”
She continued , " And I was so young and atrociously mindful how well-fixed it was to lose everything by being label ' hard , ' so I just pretended I was frantic and get on with it . It was n’t a superpower play ; no one was attempt to be awful or ache me . It was just a very dissimilar time , and now we love considerably . "
2.AtElle’s Women in Hollywoodevent in 2017,Jennifer Lawrencesaid, “When I was much younger and starting out, I was told by producers of a film to lose 15 pounds in two weeks. During this time, a female producer had me do a nude line-up with about five women who were much, much thinner than me. We are stood side-by-side with only tape on covering our privates. After that degrading and humiliating line-up, the female producer told me I should use the naked photos of myself as inspiration for my diet.”
She said , " He said he did n’t know why everyone think I was so fat , he thought I was ' dead fuckable . ' … I let myself be treated a sure way because I mat up I had to for my career . "
3.In 2016,Thandiwe NewtontoldW Magazinethat, early in her career, “A director, on a callback, had a camera shooting up my skirt and asked me to touch my tits and think about the guy making love to me in the scene. I thought, ‘Ok, this is a little weird,’ but there was a female casting director in the room, and I’d done weird stuff before, so I did it.”
She said that , at a film festival several years down the route , a drunk producer told her , " Oh , Thandie , I ’ve seen you recently ! "
She pronounce , " And he lurched away , looking really shocked that he ’d said that . "
Her married man , Ol Parker , spoke to the producer to find out what was going on .
" It plow out that the director was showing that sense of hearing tape to his friends after poker games at his house . And they would all get off on it , " Thandiwe say .
4.In 2020,Kumail Nanjianitold Variety’s “#REPRESENT: Success Stories,” “I have a Pakistani accent, but [early in my career] they would be like, ‘Could you make it funnier? Lean in a little bit.’ And at some point, I decided I just wasn’t going to do that. There are certain parts that require a thicker Pakistani or Indian accent, and that’s totally fine, but I just didn’t want the comedy to just be coming from someone exaggerating their accent. So there was a really, really big movie, actually, that I auditioned for, and I was a taxi driver, and the director was like, ‘Hey, could you play up the accent a little bit?’ And I was like, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t.'”
" And then the guy felt really forged . And I was like , ' No , it ’s all right . I ’m just not going to do it . If that ’s what you want , I ’m not your guy . ' And then that pic was hugely successful . Still , I do n’t regret it , " he said .
5.During the 2015EW Fest,Aziz Ansarisaid, “I once was asked to audition forTransformerswith Michael Bay. And it was a role for a call center guy who does an accent. And I was like, ‘No, I’m not doing it.’ Ravi [Patel] was like, ‘I’ll do it!’ And Ravi did it, and he probably made decent money being the call center guy.”
" I understand . You have to work , and some people do n’t think it ’s a trouble . You do it , " he said .
6.In 2023, Stephanie Hsu told theNew York Times, “I remember in 2012, I went into a commercial audition, and they were like, ‘OK, could you do it again, but with a more Asian accent?’ And I said, ‘I’m so sorry, but this role is not for me. I don’t do that, and I’m not interested in this part.'”
She stay on , " I walked out , and I was reek . I sat next to this actor and asked him , ' Did they enquire you to do an accent ? ' He was Asian and spoke perfect English , and he was like , ' Well , yeah . ' And I ’m like , ' Did you do it ? ' And he said , ' I have no other choice . ' I understand that people want to make it and they only see one path and have to flex and close up to have a life in the prowess , but I always thought if that ’s how it ’s going to go for me , then I ’m move to influence at a bar or in a Sir Henry Wood workshop . I have to make things that matter to me . Life is too unretentive to completely dehumanize yourself . "
7.During a 2015 roundtable for theHollywood Reporter, Gina Rodriguez said, “I was up for a role and auditioned in character. They’re like, ‘We love her. But can she come back in with a tight black dress?'”
She stay , " I said , ' That does n’t make any sense for the character . ' They were like , ' We need to be intimate if you ’re fairly enough to be on the cover of a clip . ' "
8.During the same roundtable, Tracee Ellis Ross toldTHR, “I tested once for a network show to play a lawyer. A Harvard-educated motherfuckin’ lawyer, OK? I wore a skirt, suit, and heels. Seemed appropriate. Then, there were many discussions about my hair. They’d printed up all these pictures of me from 15 fuckin’ years ago and had me in and out of the bathroom trying on clothes. They finally pick a skirt — the shortest I brought. Then got a T-shirt from one of the people in the office. The woman says, ‘Hmmm, your boobs.’ I was like, ‘I didn’t bring a bra for this T-shirt.’ She screams down the hall, ‘Who wears a 34B?’ I put on someone else’s bra, a size too small, and somehow auditioned.”
" I remember wondering , ' What did I just allow myself to do ? ' The other actress [ who audition ] was fit out like she was go to a nine and get the role . It was one of those moment where you ’re so confused and humiliated . But that ’s part of the game , " she said .
9.During a 2017 Comedy Actress Roundtable, Emmy Rossum told theHollywood Reporter, “Even as recently as a year ago, my agent called me and was like, ‘I’m so embarrassed to make this call, but there’s a big movie and they’re going to offer it to you. They really love your work on the show. But the director wants you to come into his office in a bikini. There’s no audition. That’s all you have to do.'”
She continued , " He require to lie with if I was juicy now . That was essentially the question . And I really had this instant like , ' Well , how undecomposed is the part ? ' For a second , I was like , ' Would I do it ? Send me the handwriting . Maybe the character is in a bikini in the moving-picture show . ' Not in a bikini in the motion picture . Not naked in the moving picture . ' We really love your body of work , but we just want to see how rigorous your ass is . ' Are you fucking banter me ? Last time I checked , I ’m not a blooming theoretical account . "
10.In 2020, Lana Condor toldTeen Voguethat someone who worked in casting once advised her to “be more like Hello Kitty.” Lana said, “What the fuck does that mean? That’s so insanely ignorant and racist.”
She later toldVariety , " I remember when she sound out that , I just was like , ' I do n’t know what you intend . ' I directly up — you kind of have to call that out . Also , Hello Kitty does n’t have a sass . [ So as ] a char , I ’m like , ' One , you need me to be more like Hello Kitty , but she does n’t have a voice . ' That ’s so contemptuous to me . "
11.In 2021, Steven Yeun toldVariety’sAwards Circuit Podcast, “The first audition I had in Chicago was calledAwesome ’80s Prom, which was an immersive improvised show, where you have this John Hughes spectrum of characters like Ferris Bueller. Then you have your ‘Long Duk Dongs,’ and I auditioned with Ferris Bueller’s opening monologue. And they said, ‘That was good. Can you do that all again in an Asian accent?’ And I’ll be honest with you. I knew that I didn’t want to do that. The system had no clue that’s not what I wanted. We were just in a different time.”
He go on , " And so I remember I did a shitty accent and phoned it , and they still wanted me anyway because that ’s how far and few between Asian actors were . So they call , and they say , ' We ’d care to lease you . ' And I said , ' No . ' And they buzz off really delirious . And I was like , ' Oh , that ’s not a good first measure in this line of work . I pissed somebody off . ' "
12.During the 2017ATX Television Festival,Alison Brie said, “Early in my career, I auditioned for three lines on an episode ofEntouragethat I had to go on in a bikini! Or like shorts and the tiniest shorts. And they were like, ‘Okay, can you take your top off now?'”
OnTwitter , she later clarified , " I had a two-piece top on UNDER my top . They did n’t ask me to get whole topless . regretful to disappoint you ! "
13.On a 2023 episode ofHigh Low with EmRata,Bella Thornesaid, “I had a director give me feedback once, and I was 10. The casting director calls my agent and the agent calls my mom, and they’re like, ‘So, she’s not moving forward because the director felt like she was flirting with him, and it made him really uncomfortable.’ … What the fuck are you talking about, man? I don’t give a fuck what the fuck [10-year-old Bella] said…She is 10 years old. Why would you ever think that?”
She continued , " Also , you ’re in a film director session . You ca n’t really say or do anything . You do the scene , you say hello , and you take the air out . There is no time to go ride on your circuit or make you uncomfortable . What the fuck are you talking about ? "
14.In a 2016 editorial forNBC News, Justin Chon said that he’d recently gone to an audition for a role he “felt was borderline racist.” Outside he spoke to a few other auditionees he recognized. He wrote, “I asked them how the audition went, and one immediately told me disgustedly, ‘They want an Asian accent.’ I immediately said, ‘What the fuck?'”
He continued , " The speech pattern was n’t in the email , and there was n’t a clear reason why the character require one other than the fact that someone thought it would be curious . And it probably would get more laughs . But is that a good rationality to make an actor put on an accent ? Just because people would laugh ? "
He make up one’s mind to take the air out of the audition .
15.And finally, for his 2000s James Bond screen test, Henry Cavill was required to walk out of a bathroom in a towel while doing a scene. In 2019, he toldMen’s Health, “I remember the director, Martin Campbell, saying, ‘Looking a little chubby there, Henry.'”
Henry took the unfavorable judgment to eye , thinking the problem lie with him rather than the somebody commenting on his body .
He enjoin , " I did n’t know how to train or dieting . And I ’m beaming Martin aver something because I respond well to truth . It helps me get honorable . "
The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1 - 888 - 950 - 6264 ( NAMI ) and leave information and referral services;GoodTherapy.orgis an association of genial health professionals from more than 25 country who support efforts to reduce impairment in therapy .
