11 Celebrities Who Never Want To Remember The Times They Had Embarrassing Movie Auditions

Movie auditions can be brutal, but some of the worst ones come from celebrities who somehow made their own “unique” choices, then watched the room react in real time. Charlie Cox showed up already locked into a blind-character mindset, Bradley Cooper tried to audition with Batman energy, and Robert Pattinson basically negotiated with the concept of being American.

And it gets even messier when the stakes are high and the people in the room are bigger than life. Chris Evans walked into Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone audition and immediately got derailed by one tiny parking question, while Jake Gyllenhaal stumbled into his Lord of the Rings accent situation with zero preparation, right as Peter Jackson was ready to judge everything.

By the time these stories hit their awkward punchlines, you realize the most memorable part of the audition might be the cringe itself.

1. Charlie Cox

He auditioned for a part by acting blind. The Daredevil actor seemed to have become so accustomed to playing the blind character that he auditioned for a (speculated) role in Solo: A Star Wars Story by acting blind. Halfway through, the casting director stopped him and said,

‘Why aren’t you looking at me?’ I realized I had gotten into a habit of not making eye contact because the only thing I had done for two years was play someone who is blind.Getty Images

2. Bradley Cooper

He auditioned for The Green Lantern by giving the title character the same voice as Christian Bale’s Batman. Cooper said it looked like a bad SNL sketch.

"I don’t know what it was! I put a mask on, and the director said, ‘Okay, Bradley, be regular and talk.’ And I was like... (in a deep Batman voice) ‘Listen, Sally, we’re going to have to take your family away if you don’t listen to me!’"Getty Images

3. Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson pretended to be American for his Transformers 2 audition. He literally tried to convince the filmmakers that he was American, even though they already knew he was English.

"I always thought that if you say you’re English, they judge your American accent... So they were listening to my backstory about being from Denver, and they were like, ‘What is this guy on?’"Getty Images

4. Chris Evans

He was a ball of nerves auditioning for Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone. When Evans arrived at the audition and saw Affleck, he was instantly starstruck.

The first thing I said was, “Hey... am I gonna be okay where I parked?” And he said, ‘Where’d you park?’ And I said, ‘At one of the meters.’ And he replied, ‘Did you put money in it?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ At that moment, I knew I was p***ed off!Getty Images

5. Jake Gyllenhaal

No one told Jake Gyllenhaal he was supposed to prepare an accent for his Lord of the Rings audition. Gyllenhaal had no idea what he was supposed to do for the audition.

Peter Jackson literally turned to him and said,

‘You are the worst actor I’ve ever seen. Did anyone tell you that you’re supposed to have an accent?’ I was like, ‘No.’ And he was like, ‘Well, fire your agents.’Getty Images

6. Dakota Johnson

She once took her shirt off during an audition, even though she didn’t have to. The actress said it was the most embarrassing audition of her life.

“I got really into the scene, and it was dramatic, and I took my shirt off, and then I didn’t have to do that. And afterward, they were like, ‘Uh, that was great. That was nice,’ and I was like, ‘Thank you,’ while having to pick my shirt up off the floor and still talk to them and put it back on. It was inappropriate.”Getty Images

Similarly, Alan Cumming blasted the BAFTAs as a “trauma triggering s***show” after the racial slur incident.

7. Nicholas Hoult

He didn’t know he had to do a Hispanic accent for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. During his audition, they asked if he could do it in an accent like Puss in Boots in Shrek.

I was doing the scene, but in my head, before saying each line, I was trying to do my Antonio Banderas impression, saying (in a Desperado voice), ‘I am Prince Caspian!’ It was horrendous. It sounded more like Borat.Getty Images

8. George Clooney

He auditioned for a drunk character by getting hammered. Clooney got too real when he auditioned to play a drunk in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

After his audition, Coppola phoned Clooney’s agent, shocked that the actor came to the audition completely wasted.

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9. Kevin Hart

He auditioned for SNL by doing a character impersonation of someone nobody knew. Hart played former San Antonio Spurs point guard Avery Johnson, and it was clear to him that Lorne Michaels had no idea who that was.

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10. Tom Holland

He botched his Star Wars audition because he couldn’t stop laughing at the droid. Holland was up for the part of Finn, but it all ended when he had to act opposite a woman playing a droid.

“So I was doing all this, like, ‘We gotta get back to the ship!’ And she was going, ‘Bleep, bloop, bloop, bleep, bloop,’ I just couldn’t stop laughing. I found it funny.”Getty Images

11. Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman prepared for his Wolverine audition by studying wolves. Jackman didn’t know what a wolverine was, so he added wolf-like movements and characteristics to his performance.

Bryan Singer had to explain that wolverines were real animals and that it was more of a metaphorical idea regarding the character.

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Charlie Cox tried acting blind so hard it became a bad habit, and the casting director was not letting it slide.

Next came Bradley Cooper, who basically showed up to The Green Lantern audition doing Christian Bale’s Batman instead of anything “Green Lantern.”

Then Robert Pattinson turned his Transformers 2 audition into a full-on argument about whether he could pass as American, even though they already knew he was English.

Finally, Chris Evans and Jake Gyllenhaal both hit the same kind of wall, nerves and confusion colliding right in front of Ben Affleck and Peter Jackson.

Everyone makes mistakes! After years of auditioning for jobs, it is impossible for actors to avoid having the worst audition story, but some stand out more than others.

Nerves frequently play a significant role in these awkward audition circumstances, showing that even the most gifted individuals experience stage fright while performing in front of an audience.

Nobody wants to be the reason the casting room stops mid-sentence.

For more on the BAFTAs slur fallout, read why John Davidson refused to apologize after targeting Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo.