TV Roles That Were Almost Played by a Different Actor

8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER

Five years after Roseanne‘s original run wrapped, John Goodman was on the short list to play family patriarch Paul Hennessy — until Three’s Company funnyman John Ritter, coming off a collection of movies/TV-movies, sought a sitcom comeback. “You take John Ritter any time you can get John Ritter,” EP Flody Suarez mentioned on the time. (Goodman would ultimately have 8 Simple Rules star Katey Sagal as a TV spouse on The Conners.)

THE AFFAIR

Though Colin Donnell finally performed Scotty Lockhart in The Affair‘s first two seasons, he initially got close to playing Cole, a role that later went to Joshua Jackson. “Colin actually had come in and auditioned for Cole a bunch of times. But he wasn’t fairly proper,” collection co-creator Sarah Treem revealed in an Instagram story forward of the collection finale. “But I loved him so much as an actor that I actually wrote Scotty for him…. I thought he was so good, and I didn’t want to lose him.”

ARROW

As Anna Hopkins informed TVLine in our Memories From the Set function, she first auditioned to play Arrow‘s Sara Lance. The part went to Caity Lotz, but Hopkins was later brought in to read for the part of a “journalist”… which she eventually learned was code for Samantha Clayton, the mother of Oliver’s secret son William!

THE BIG BANG THEORY

Before Johnny Galecki was solid as Sheldon’s extraordinarily affected person roommate, the producers pursued former Home Alone star Maculay Culkin. “There’s a special ethereal quality to that actor that I thought might be great,” Big Bang co-creator Chuck Lorre shared in The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series (order it right here). Added fellow co-creator Bill Prady: “We had a terrific meeting with Macaulay… and then we heard that he had decided he wasn’t interested.”

Other Almost-Leonards: Kevin Sussman, who would go on to play comedian guide retailer proprietor Stuart, was additionally up for the position of Leonard within the unique 2006 pilot, as was John Ross Bowie (aka Barry Kripke), who got here in to learn not as soon as, however twice.

THE BIG BANG THEORY

BREAKING BAD

Instead of “XOXO,” Penn Badgley practically dabbled in C₁₀H₁₅N, having auditioned for the position of Breaking Bad‘s Jesse Pinkman. “It was between me and Aaron Paul, we tested,” Badgley shared in the rapid-fire BuzzFeed Q&A (watch above).  “And actually, that was the best television script I’d learn at that time. That was the one which bought away.” Badgley as an alternative continued his run as Gossip Girl‘s Dan.

CHUCK

Before he ended up in Pawnee, Indiana, Parks and Recreation‘s Chris Pratt could have played the title role on NBC’s Chuck — nevertheless it wasn’t meant to be. “He was the first guy I wanted to play Chuck,” collection co-creator Josh Schwartz informed the now-defunct HitRepair in 2014. “But as fate would have it, he was destined to guard the galaxy, not the Buy More. And might I add, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

DAWSON’S CREEK

The Dawson’s Creek ensemble virtually regarded very completely different — and one of many predominant solid members practically stuffed one other position. In 2018, collection creator Kevin Williamson revealed to Entertainment Weekly that Katherine Heigl virtually performed Jen Lindley as an alternative of Michelle Williams. “Even though [Heigl] was younger, I just think she was more mature,” Williamson shared.”“She gave a great audition, I remember we were all sort of like, ‘Wow, she’s good.’”

Ultimately, Williams’ sturdy display screen check landed her the position of Jen as an alternative — and Katie Holmes’ spectacular audition, which she recorded at house and submitted to the casting crew, gained her the position of Joey Potter over Williamson’s unique first alternative, Selma Blair. Joshua Jackson, in the meantime, was practically solid as Dawson Leery, however he ended up enjoying Pacey Witter when The WB didn’t suppose Jackson was the fitting match for the lead.

DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

As author Tyron B. Carter shared on Twitter, the singer Ashanti — whose earlier appearing credit embody Army Wives — auditioned for the position of Amaya aka Vixen, which ultimately went to Maisie Richardson-Sellers.

ER

John Stamos may have scrubbed in at County General six years previous to Tony Gates’ debut — that was if he hadn’t botched the audition. As revealed throughout a 2008 Paley Center panel commemorating the medical drama’s three hundredth episode, Stamos initially tried out for the position of Dave Malucci forward of Season 6. “It was right after Full House and [executive producer] John [Wells] had been talking to me about coming on the show,” the actor recalled. “They made me come in and audition, and I was so awful… They said, ‘thank you,’ and that was it.” The half went to Erik Palladino, and Stamos got here aboard as a completely different character in Season 12.

FAMILY GUY

Long earlier than he lorded over the Shameless Gallagher clan (the place he would amass 5 Emmy nominations to go together with his Fargo Oscar nod), William H. Macy was eyed to play the Griffins’ household pet — however Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane opted to lend his personal voice to the pooch as an alternative. “I look back and I’m like, ‘How cocky and arrogant must I have been at 24 to have Bill Macy audition for Brian and go, ‘You know what? I don’t think it’s working and I’m going to do it myself’?” recalled MacFarlane. “The hubris is not to be believed!”

FAMILY TIES

At the Artios Awards in 2013, Family Ties star Michael J. Fox revealed that Matthew Broderick was virtually solid as Alex P. Keaton — and the 2 actors usually discovered themselves competing for different roles, as properly. “He’d usually go in first for auditions, and you’d hear hands shaking,” Fox mentioned. “I was always losing jobs to Matthew Broderick.” But Broderick was unavailable for Family Ties, and Fox went on to attain the position (and three Emmys!).

THE FLASH

Although The Flash‘s casting crew instantly favored Candice Patton for Iris, “we were too early on in the process to cast her,” casting director David Rapaport informed BuzzFeed in 2015. Keke Palmer (Scream Queens) was among the many actresses who examined for the position within the meantime, however she “felt a little too young next to Grant [Gustin],” Rapaport mentioned. Later, Patton was introduced again in for one more chemistry learn with Gustin, and “it just made total sense” to solid her as Iris.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Former Walker and The 100 star Lindsey Morgan labored as an additional on the critically acclaimed drama earlier than touchdown an audition for Epyck Sanders, a troubled pupil at East Dillon High within the remaining season. “I did really well, and then it was down to me and the girl who got it [Emily Rios],” Morgan informed TVLine. “I met Peter Berg and the producers, and I had nothing on my résumé, but just that auditioning experience gave me enough confidence to be like, ‘OK, maybe I can go to LA. Maybe I can really pursue acting.’”

FRIENDS

Ross Geller virtually had a very completely different lobster: Saved by the Bell alum Tiffani Thiessen! On an episode of You Up With Nikki Glaser in 2018, Thiessen shared that she examined for Friends‘ Rachel Green, however “I was just a little too young” compared to the remainder of the solid.

GAME OF THRONES

Iwan Rheon’s eventual Game of Thrones position was that of Ramsay Bolton, one of many collection’ most despicable villains. But that was very practically not the case: In a 2016 chat with Interview, Rheon revealed that he was up for the position of Jon Snow initially, and “it was between me and Kit [Harington], which is quite crazy.” Though Rheon may have portrayed one among Thrones‘ most beloved characters (instead of a deeply hated one), the actor said “they made the right choice; it would’ve been a very completely different Jon Snow if I’d performed him.”

GENERAL HOSPITAL

A sizzling commodity after his 1987-89 run as Nico Kelly on All My Children, Maurice Benard was given his decide of two mobsters to play on the Port Charles-set cleaning soap again in ’93: the short-term position of Sonny Corinthos and the contract a part of Damian Smith. Since the long run Emmy winner didn’t intend to stay round lengthy, he selected the previous, leaving the latter to Santa Barbara alum Leigh J. McCloskey. Ironically, Damian was killed off solely three years later; virtually three a long time on, Sonny isn’t simply nonetheless on the present, he virtually is the present.

GILMORE GIRLS

Gilmore followers know Mädchen Amick as Sherry Tinsdale, the polarizing love curiosity of David Sutcliffe’s Christopher. But, as Amick divulged to TVLine, “I actually got really far in the testing process and almost got the part of Lorelai.” Amick misplaced out to Lauren Graham as a result of “the network said I didn’t seem old enough to be a mother,” however she discovered it “really cool that Amy [Sherman-Palladino] brought me back in for [Sherry].”

THE GOOD WIFE

Not one however two well-known actresses handed on enjoying The Good Wife‘s Alicia Florrick before Julianna Margulies got the part. During a Hollywood Reporter roundtable, Margulies joked that she was the casting team’s “sloppy thirds” after each Helen Hunt and Ashley Judd turned down the position. “I wanted to hate it, because you know, ‘F—k you! You didn’t want me to begin with,’” Margulies confessed. “But my agent said a great thing: ‘No one will know when they watch this show that Helen Hunt was offered it before you.’”

GOSSIP GIRL

XOXO… Alden Ehrenreich? The Solo star was truly casting director David Rapaport’s first option to play Dan on Gossip Girl, moderately than Penn Badgley. “Before Penn was involved, I desperately wanted Alden Ehrenreich to play Dan,” Rapaport informed Entertainment Weekly, although producers finally thought Ehrenreich (at 5-foot-9) wasn’t tall sufficient to play a love curiosity for Blake Lively (who’s 5-foot-10).

GREY’S ANATOMY

Rob Lowe may have been scrubbing in as Grey’s Anatomy‘s Derek Shepherd, aka McDreamy. But during a podcast interview with Marc Maron, Lowe confessed that he turned the role down — and “that’s in all probability value me $70 million,” he joked. After watching the Grey’s pilot, although, Lowe believed he’d made the fitting choice: “When they started calling the handsome doctor ‘McDreamy,’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s not for me.’”

And one other collection may have starred Lowe if issues had shaken out in a different way: FX’s Nip/Tuck. At the Television Critics Association press tour, Lowe mentioned that Ryan Murphy had written Nip/Tuck particularly with him in thoughts — however Lowe’s brokers “didn’t give it to me,” and Julian McMahon went on to play Dr. Christian Troy as an alternative.

GREY’S ANATOMY

Shortly earlier than she auditioned for Lost (for the position of Kate, truly), Yunjin Kim regarded to clean in at ABC’s new medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy. “I did not audition for [Cristina Yang], it was for Izzie,” Kim informed EW.com. “And I got a callback.”

Kim wound up wowing Lost boss J.J. Abrams sufficient to not play Kate however have the position of Sun created for her. And whereas she didn’t at first cancel her Grey’s callback, she ended up skipping it. (And the position of Izzy in fact ultimately went to Katherine Heigl.)

JANE THE VIRGIN

As Nicholas Gonzalez shared with TVLine, he was within the operating to play Jane the Virgin‘s Rafael Solano, a role ultimately filled by Justin Baldoni. But despite losing out on that part, Gonzalez appeared in three Season 1 episodes as Marco, a love interest for Andrea Navedo’s Xo. “There just wasn’t a lot to the character because he was the perfect guy,” Gonzalez mentioned. “There wasn’t the fire with them like there was [between Xo and Rogelio], but that’s what he was there for.”

KILLING EVE

The SNL vet informed The Hollywood Reporter in June 2022 that she had been approached to star in Killing Eve, filling the title position for which Grey’s Anatomy alum Sandra Oh would ultimately win a Golden Globe and amass 4 Emmy nods. Rudolph was a superfan of Killing Eve creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, however as a mother of 4 (the youngest of which was age 4 on the time), “there was no way I was about to move to Europe for months,” she defined. “Like, how?”

LOST

You in all probability know Cobie Smulders finest as How I Met Your Mother‘s Robin Scherbatsky… however you may have recognized her as Lost‘s Kate Austen, as Smulders herself revealed to E! News in 2014. “[Evangeline Lilly and I] were both testing for Lost,” the actress shared, joking that Lilly “owes a lot to me because I went in and I bombed the audition.”

NCIS

Though NCIS followers watched Pauley Perrette play Abby Sciuto for years, the forensic scientist was virtually portrayed by Katee Sackhoff as an alternative. TVLine has realized that Sackhoff auditioned for Abby when casting for the position had simply begun — however she had already examined for Battlestar Galactica, too. Sackhoff was finally solid on BSG as Kara Thrace, and Perrette landed the NCIS gig as an alternative.

THE O.C.

Some different future stars virtually took up residence in Ryan Atwood’s pool home. On the rewatch podcast Welcome to the O.C., Bitches!, casting director Patrick Rush informed hosts Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke in regards to the hopefuls who auditioned for Ben McKenzie’s position. “We saw Garrett Hedlund for that part and we wanted to test him, but he got Troy, the Brad Pitt movie, at the same time that we wanted to test him,” Rush shared. In addition to This Is Us‘ Justin Hartley, Chris Pine additionally learn for the character, and “he was really, really, really good, but — this is painful — at the time, Chris Pine’s skin was really, really bad and that broke my heart because I was a kid with acne. I remember thinking he was so good.”

THE O.C.

Wilson Bethel solely appeared in a single O.C. episode as a character named Brad, however “I had originally tested for the Ryan role, which obviously I didn’t get,” he informed TVLine. What’s extra, Brad was meant to seem in a number of episodes, however Bethel slept by way of a number of alarm clocks throughout sooner or later of filming and arrived on set hours late, prompting producers to dismiss him from the present. “They kind of kicked me this other role as a scraps-on-the-table kind of thing,” Bethel mentioned of shedding the Ryan character to Ben McKenzie, including with a snigger that “it was supposed to be a recurring role, and then I proved to them I was not up to the task.”

ONE TREE HILL

Husband and spouse Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton Morgan may have been One Tree Hill costars! On the rewatch podcast Drama Queens, the actress revealed that “my husband, Jeffrey, auditioned for [Keith Scott].” Had the position not finally gone to Craig Sheffer and “had [Jeff] shown up in those tight jeans that Sheff was wearing, I would’ve definitely had kids earlier,” Burton Morgan added with a snigger.

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

It was virtually Katie Holmes, and never Taylor Schilling, who served time at Litchfield Penitentiary in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. “I’m a big fan of [Holmes’]…. I met with her [about playing Piper],” OITNB creator Jenji Kohan informed E! News in 2014. But Holmes “had other things to do” on the time, per Kohan, who admitted that “in the beginning, no one knew what this [show] was.”

THE ORIGINALS

When casting the position of vamp Marcel Gerard within the backdoor pilot for the Vampire Diaries spinoff, a future Game of Thrones and The Mandalorian star captured govt producer Julie Plec’s consideration. “One of the other people who read opposite Charles [Michael Davis] for that part was Pedro Pascal, who I loved,” Plec informed EW.com. Although the EP was “obsessed” with the actor, Pascal “was just on the older side,” she defined.

SEX AND THE CITY

We couldn’t assist however surprise: What would Sex and the City have been like if Lisa Edelstein performed Carrie Bradshaw? As Edelstein informed Access Hollywood in 2016, she bought so near touchdown the position that a contract had been drawn up — however her casting was depending on whether or not Sarah Jessica Parker needed to signal on to the present. Of course, Parker did say sure, and Edelstein revealed that she discovered it “too painful” to ever watch Sex and the City after she missed out on starring in it.

SMALLVILLE

Before he grew to become a CW staple as Supernatural‘s Dean Winchester, Jensen Ackles nearly scored another iconic role at the network: Smallville‘s Clark Kent. “It got pretty close, and actually came down to Tom [Welling] and me,” Ackles revealed in 2004. “We had to go back a couple of times to the network and they ultimately went with Tom, which I thought made sense because he looks more the part than I do… I’d say they made the fitting alternative.” But Smallville later discovered a half for Ackles, casting him as villain Jason Teague in Season 4.

SMALLVILLE

Speaking of Smallville, Clark wasn’t the one character who was virtually portrayed by another person. During a podcast interview with Michael Rosenbaum, who performed Lex Luthor throughout the drama’s run, Zachary Levi shared that he additionally examined for Lex and “really thought I was going to get that job.” But he went on to say that Rosenbaum was “fantastic” within the position, including: “It wasn’t my path” to play the villainous character — although it was his path to play Chuck‘s Chuck Bartowski, a position he held whereas Smallville was nonetheless on the air.

STRANGER THINGS

Before he thought of embarking for the Outer Banks, Chase Stokes took a stab at exploring the Upside Down. “I actually read for [Stranger Things‘] Steve Harrington and forgot all the lines and absolutely effed up the audition,” Stokes shared with Access Hollywood at a Poguelandia fan occasion (watch video beneath). “I drove eight hours from Atlanta back to Orlando regretting every moment of my life on that.” The position of supremely coiffed Steve wound up going to Joe Keery, who Stokes hailed as “an absolute legend.”

#ChaseStokes reveals how he “effed up” his #StrangerThings audition. #OBX pic.twitter.com/M5BBxob8SX

— Access Hollywood (@accesshollywood) February 22, 2023

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TEEN WOLF

“I remember auditioning for Teen Wolf all the time and getting really close and never getting selected,” Centineo told MTV in January 2023. “I auditioned for the pilot, maybe for Tyler’s role or maybe Dylan’s role, at some point. There were times when the casting director was like, ‘You’re my choice! I want you to get it!’ And then for some reason, they just didn’t want me on the show. But shout out [to] them, because they just did a movie. And my boy Dylan Sprayberry is in it, and he’s the man and I love him. Everybody on that show is way too sexy.”

(Honestly, we may see Centineo as both Scott or Stiles. Or anybody within the Teen Wolf universe for that matter. How did this not occur?!)

TRUE BLOOD

Jennifer Lawrence, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jessica Chastain all have one thing in frequent (apart from their many collective Oscar nominations): They all got here near starring in HBO’s True Blood. Series creator Alan Ball informed The Hollywood Reporter that he needed Lawrence to play werepanther Crystal Norris, however at 17 years previous, the actress was a bit too younger to play the girlfriend of Ryan Kwanten’s Jason. Cumberbatch and Chastain, in the meantime, respectively learn for the roles of Bill and Sookie, which went to Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin in the long run.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

We can’t think about anybody apart from Nina Dobrev enjoying Elena (and Katherine… and Amara) on The Vampire Diaries, so it completely blows our thoughts to suppose that each Ashlee Simpson and Ashley Tisdale practically nabbed the position themselves. The present was reportedly conceived as a car for Simpson from the bounce, a plan which clearly didn’t come to fruition, whereas Tisdale allegedly turned it down for one more CW collection — Hellcats.

THE WHITE LOTUS

Evan Peters virtually landed himself a free journey to Italy, to play husband Ethan to Aubrey Plaza’s Harper in Season 2 of the HBO thriller dramedy. “That was the last part we cast in the season,” govt producer David Bernad informed Deadline, “and originally it was supposed to be Evan Peters, but for whatever reason – scheduling or timing – it didn’t work out.” Determined to keep away from “familiar casting,” Bernad mentioned that he was “Googling at 4 am and I came across Will Sharpe in Giri/Haji, which is a brilliant show in the UK. I’d never seen him before and he was just incredibly talented… kind of a chameleon.”