These 21 Actors Had Wild Auditions But Some Of Them Managed To Get Some Pretty Iconic Roles

Some auditions are polished, predictable, and over in a flash. Others turn into strange little stories that actors remember for years, especially when a role that later became iconic started with nerves, awkward instructions, or a total surprise.

This roundup pulls together 21 casting moments involving major names like Chris Hemsworth, Emilia Clarke, Harrison Ford, Jodie Comer, and Brie Larson. A few of them were chaotic, a few were funny, and some were so unusual that it is hard to believe they led to huge roles in the first place.

Here are the wild auditions that helped shape some very familiar characters.

1. Chris Hemsworth did not get a callback for the final audition for Thor, but his brother Liam did.

They remembered Liam had an older sibling and called Chris back in when the final few actors, including Liam, were not cast.

Marvel, Valerie Macon / Getty Images

2. During her Game of Thrones audition, Emilia Clarke ended up doing the funky chicken and robot dances.

Creator David Benioff joked that she should "do a dance," and she took him seriously.

HBO

3. At auditions for Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Eddie Redmayne did a very bad Darth Vader impression.

The casting directors asked if he could do anything else after a few minutes, and he simply replied, "No."

Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images, LucasFilms

Some of these auditions were memorable for all the wrong reasons.

4. On her way to her Glee audition, Lea Michele was involved in a major car accident, and she was still pulling glass out of her hair when the audition began.

Fox

5. Lamorne Morris wore jeggings and a halter top to his New Girl audition, and he applied "a bunch of Vaseline on his legs" because the scene entailed a Halloween party.

Fox

6. Harrison Ford was working as a carpenter in the building where Star Wars auditions were conducted when George Lucas spotted him and invited him in.

LucasFilms

7. During his Lord of the Rings Frodo audition, Jake Gyllenhaal had no idea he had to mimic a British accent until director Peter Jackson told him halfway through.

Kevin Winter / Getty Images, New Line Cinema

That kind of surprise can throw anyone off.

8. Sandra Oh supposedly left her wallet and phone at home before her Grey's Anatomy audition, and she ended up leaving early due to her nerves.

ABC

9. Nicholas Hoult was awkwardly ordered to fake a "Hispanic accent" and base it on Puss in Boots from Shrek during his audition for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Amy Sussman / Getty Images, Disney

10. Michael B. Jordan lied and said he could rap during his audition for the Tupac Shakur movie, forcing him to come up with something on the spot.

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images, Summit Entertainment

11. For his audition, Vilhelm Blomgren, who played Pelle in Midsommar, had to stroll "30 meters in the woods" and then act out a scenario.

A24

By this point, the casting process is getting very weird.

This chaos feels like when Hollywood’s biggest stars wanted the Earth to swallow them whole after awkward moments.

12. Jodie Comer ate a lot of blueberry pie while auditioning for Killing Eve and performing an eight-page scene opposite Sandra Oh – Sandra brought props for the chemistry read, and Jodie just committed.

BBC America

13. Bradley Cooper began imitating Christian Bale's Batman voice during his audition for Green Lantern for no apparent reason.

Valerie Macon / Getty Images, Warner Bros.

14. During her Schitt's Creek audition, Emily Hampshire became so nervous that she began to "pull part of her shirt over her head" as if she were hiding in front of Dan Levy.

Pop / CBC

15. Manny Jacinto, Jameela Jamil, D'Arcy Carden, and William Jackson Harper were given false scenes to audition with because only Kristen Bell and Ted Danson knew what The Good Place was about.

NBC

That secrecy made the whole thing even stranger.

16. D'Arcy Carden, for one, had no idea Janet was supposed to be an AI and was perplexed when a 15-year-old boy auditioned ahead of her and a woman in her sixties auditioned after her.

NBC

17. Riz Ahmed auditioned for Rogue One and submitted roughly 15 separate videos, each with a distinct accent and manner for Bodhi.

LucasFilms

18. January Jones had no idea she had to do a "pole dance with no pole" for her Coyote Ugly audition – she was told she had "no rhythm" thereafter.

John Lamparski / Getty Images, Touchstone Pictures

19. Noah Centineo forced himself to slump at every audition for To All the Boys so that he never seemed taller than Lana Condor.

Netflix

And somehow, it still kept getting more awkward.

20. Brie Larson had no idea she was auditioning for Trainwreck; she believed she was just going out to lunch with Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow a couple of times.

Universal Pictures

21. Jamie Lee Curtis realized her audition for Field of Dreams was so poor that she abruptly ended it, saying, "Look, folks, I'm truly sorry; I'm out."

Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images, Universal Pictures

Interesting trivia: Did you know that Nick Fury, a Marvel character, was inspired by David Hasselhoff? The art directors had similar actors in mind for the part.

But when they saw Samuel L. Jackson, they knew he was the one. He has, of course, played Nick Fury in every Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

Some auditions are so strange they become part of the legend.

Want more double-take moments, check out the secret twins hiding in plain sight, from political activists to film editors.