The majority of us probably love watching various TV shows and movies. But before these shows and movies come to our screens, they come a very long way. One of the first steps is always finding fitting people for the roles. This usually is done through auditions, where actors and actresses come to try out for certain parts.
Sadly, these auditions aren't always the most pleasing experience for the talent. It gets especially gruesome when it comes to actresses. There are plenty of cases of women being mistreated in the audition rooms. Today, let's take a trip through some of the experiences that were shared by these brave actresses. And let's praise them for going through such events and thriving in their careers.
#1 Emma Thompson Was Told She's Too Old To Star Along Hugh Grant, Who's Only A Year Younger Than She Is
When Emma Thompson was starring in "Sense and Sensibility," there were comments spread claiming she was too old for her co-star Hugh Grant. This was a nonsensical claim, as, in reality, there’s a mere year age difference between the actors, with Emma being born in 1959, while Hugh was born in 1960.
Image credits: www.vulture.com
#2 Judi Dench Was Told That Everything Was Wrong With Her Face
During one of the first auditions of her career, Judi Dench was told that she had “every single thing wrong with her face.” It was also added that, due to this, she probably wouldn't be in any movies.
Image credits: buzzfeed
#3 Helen Mirren Said That One Director Treated Her "Like A Piece Of Meat"
Helen Mirren has said that the director Michael Winner treated her “like a piece of meat” during a casting session in 1964. He did that by ordering her to turn around and parade her body for him. The actress has said that she was angry with his actions back in the day when it happened and is still angry now.The director tried to defend his actions by saying that he remembers asking her to stand up but doesn’t remember asking her to turn around. And if he did, he’s sure he was joking. He also added: “I can see it now. She was wearing a peasant blouse and a skirt in the photographs – with enormous bosoms, which were sagging a bit even though she was young.” Quite a poor way to defend himself, right?
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
While in this list, we look at cases of actresses being mistreated during their auditions, Bored Panda also reached out to several people in the casting business to get the view from the other side as well - Rose Rosen from “Casting by Rose Rosen” (check out her Instagram!) and Katie Griffin from “Katie Griffin Casting.”
Both casting directors revealed that they never observed actresses being mistreated during the auditions. They said that they would never tolerate anything like that in their audition rooms.
#4 Thandie Newton Had A Camera Shot Up Her Skirt, As She Was Told To Think About The Guy Making Love To Her
Thandie Newton has opened up about how, in one of her callback auditions, a director, while having a camera shooting up her skirt, asked her to touch her breasts as she thinks about the guy making love to her in the scene. She thought it was a little weird but didn’t say anything at the time.Later, she found out an unpleasant truth about the scene: “It turns out that the director was showing that audition tape to his friends after poker games at his house. And they would all get off on it.”
Image credits: www.wmagazine.com
#5 During Audition For A Lawyer Part, Tracee Ellis Ross Was Dressed Up As A Person Going To A Nightclub
Once, Tracee Ellis Ross was auditioning for a role of a Harvard-educated lawyer on a network show. For the audition, she wore a skirt suit and heels. But it didn’t fit according to the casting people, so they made her try out plenty of other kinds of clothes. In the end, they picked the shortest skirt she brought and one of the T-shirts from a person in the office.And that wasn’t the end. They also made her put on someone else’s bra, which was too small. What the actress couldn’t stop wondering was, “What did I just allow myself to do?”
The actress, who ended up getting the role, was dressed like she was going to a nightclub. This made Tracee Ellis Ross feel confused and humiliated.
Image credits: www.hollywoodreporter.com
#6 Rose Mcgowan Was Encouraged To Wear Form-Fitting Clothes And Push-Up Bra
When Rose McGowan was invited to audition for one of Adam Sandler’s movies, she got a script to read over and a note as to what she should wear to the audition - a dark form-fitting tank top that shows off cleavage. Also, producers told the actress that “push-up bras are encouraged” as well. Rose declined the audition and went to Twitter (now X) to expose the sexist requirements.
Katie Griffin also mentioned that she doesn’t even know any casting directors who would be bold enough to mistreat any actors: “We're not in the business of harming or tearing down talent. We do quite the opposite. We empower and elevate talent with the sole intention of getting them booked. We create safe audition spaces, give redirects during the audition, and provide feedback after the audition so talent can deliver their best work.”
#7 Gwyneth Paltrow Was Invited To Meet In The Bedroom After An Audition
Gwyneth Paltrow has opened up about an indecent proposition she got during an audition in her early career. She was offered to meet up in the bedroom after said audition. She was shocked and left thinking that someone, who didn't know better, might think that their career would be ruined if they didn’t get intimate with a man from the casting crew.
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
#8 The Casting Directors Said They Weren't Sure If Gina Rodriguez Was Sexy Enough For The Role
Gina Rodriguez said that in one of her auditions, she was told that the casting directors liked her, but they weren’t sure if she was sexy enough. So, they told her to come back in a tight black dress. The actresses added that this didn’t even make any sense for the character. They explained that they needed to make sure she was pretty enough to be on the cover of a magazine.This made Gina feel marginalized and belittled, even though, at that time, she was already a professional in the industry who had played many diverse roles.
Image credits: www.hollywoodreporter.com
#9 Meryl Streep Was Called Ugly In Italian
Back in 1976, Meryl Streep was just a struggling actress on Broadway. At the same time, the son of the Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis Sr. was preparing to make King Kong, and Meryl caught his attention.When she walked into the audition, Dino De Laurentiis Sr. said to his son that she was ugly in Italian, thinking she wouldn’t understand it. But Meryl knew Italian, and she understood. Getting called ugly at such a young age can be quite harmful. So, she let him know that she understood what he said and added: “I'm sorry I'm not beautiful enough to be in King Kong.”
Image credits: The Graham Norton Show
In the topic of fighting the mistreatment of talents, the casting director Rose Rosen mentioned that she has heard of intimacy coordinators being hired for auditions, which she thinks is a brilliant idea: “They will advocate for the talent and clarify any issues.”
Another benefit of the auditioning Rose mentioned was the rise of virtual auditions. According to her, these types of auditions “give the actor full control over their environment, and they can only do what they are comfortable with.”
#10 Lisa Rinna Was Told To Pull Panties Down And Bend Over For The Role
When Lisa Rinna was 24 years old, she had a terrible casting couch experience. The producer told her: “Just pull your panties down and bend over, and the role is yours.” The actress refused to do so, which resulted in her losing a role.
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
#11 Lana Condor Was Told To Be More Like Hello Kitty
At one of her auditions, Lana Condor, an American actress born in Vietnam, was told to “be more like Hello Kitty.” That left the actress in shock at how ignorant and racist the casting director was.She straightforwardly called out the request. For example, she noted that “Hello Kitty” doesn’t have a mouth. So, in a way, the casting director was trying to take away her voice, which was very insulting to the actress.
Image credits: www.backstage.com
#12 Emmy Rossum Was Invited To An Audition Where The Only Thing She Needed To Do Was Be In The Bikini
Once, Emmy Rossum was planning to audition for a role of a character that wasn’t seen naked or in a bikini during the movie. But for the audition, the actress was asked to show up in a bikini, and that was the whole audition - they didn’t need her to act anything. Apparently, the director wanted to know if she was fat, as she was told: “We really love your work, but we just want to see how tight your [butt] is.”
Image credits: www.hollywoodreporter.com
So, we can only wish that all other casting crews in the industry are guided by the same moral compass as the casting directors we have talked with. After all, all actors and actresses are human and deserve respect when they're only trying to do their job.
How would you have acted if you would have found yourself in these actresses' shoes? Share your ideas in the comments!
#13 Sandra Oh Was Told "To Go Back Home"
Sandra Oh says that the worst advice she has ever got was: "Go back home and get famous, and then come back to LA and see how it goes."
Image credits: People
#14 Varalaxmi Sarathkumar Was Invited To Talk About "Other Things" Than Work
Bollywood star Varalaxmi Sarathkumar was having a meeting with a TV executive. Towards the end of said meeting, he asked her: “So when can we meet outside?” The woman asked if it was for some other work, but the executive answered with a smug smile across his face and said, “No, no! Not work… for other things.” The actress described this situation as the “tip of the iceberg.”
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
#15 Sophie Turner Kept Getting Comments To Lose Weight Even Though It's Wasn't Needed For Her Character
Sophie Turner began her acting career by playing Sansa Stark on “Game of Thrones.” At the time, she was only 15. Sadly, the actress has said that since then, from time to time, she gets comments about her need to lose weight, even though it has nothing to do with the character.
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
#16 Reese Witherspoon Was Told To Dress Sexier To Prove She's Not Repellent
When preparing for her audition for “Legally Blonde,” Reese Witherspoon was told by her manager that she needed to dress “sexy” in order to interest the casting director, as he thought she was “repellent” and “shrew.” That was because he couldn’t separate her from her character in “Election,” Tracy Flick.
Image credits: www.huffpost.com
#17 Jennifer Aniston Was Told To Lose 30 Pounds
When Jennifer Aniston was trying to make a career in Hollywood, she was told that she needed to lose 30 pounds. She wasn’t getting that many jobs because she was “too heavy.” In one audition where she was forced to wear a leotard, she was pretty sure that this would ruin her chances of getting the part.She admitted that her eating habits weren’t perfect at the time, as she constantly ate milkshakes and French fries with gravy. And still, she was far from overweight. After the comments, she lost the weight and became a fitness and health fanatic.
Image credits: buzzfeed
#18 Lena Headley Learned That Occasionally Casting Crew Men Pick Women Based On Who They Would Want To Have Sex With
Lena Headley once said that when she was in her twenties doing a lot of audition tapes, one casting director told her, “The men take these tapes home and watch them and say, ‘Who would you f***?’”The actress expressed that she refuses to play the game of “going to auditions and flirting,” and she’s happy she has lost some roles because of it.
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
#19 Ashley Benson Was Told To Lose Weight When She Was A Size 2
When Ashley Benson was told she needed to lose weight for a role, something that she was being told nearly constantly, she asked: “Wait, what? Do you want a skeleton?” She was a size 2.
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
#20 Kerry Washington Was Told She Looked Like A Child And Not Sexy Enough
Kerry Washington once wore overalls to an audition. This resulted in the casting people saying she looked like a child and not sexy, so they couldn’t see her.
Image credits: www.backstage.com
#21 Goldie Hawn Was Tricked Into Going To An Audition, Which Was Actually A Meeting With A Sexual Undertone
When Goldie Hawn was 19, she went to what she thought was an audition, but it turned out to be something else. Cartoonist Al Capp took off his business clothes and came into the room in a dressing gown. When she sat down, he wanted to kiss her, but the actress refused. When she was leaving, she didn’t have enough money to go back to the 1964 New York World’s Fair, where she was dancing, so he gave her $20 for a taxi. When the actress recalled this situation, she said: “It wasn’t a good day.”
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
#22 Casting Directors Considered Recasting Tiffany Haddish With A White Girl
Tiffany Haddish has a habit of leaving her purse with a recording phone in it in the audition room. Later, she would come back for it, apologizing for leaving the purse in there.She does this to find out what people in the audition room actually think about her and say behind her back. She would hear things such as “She is not as urban as I thought she would be,” or “Her boobs aren't big enough,” and even “I really think we should just go with a white girl. This role should be changed to white.”
Image credits: hollywoodreporter
#23 Maggie Gyllenhaal Was Told To "Sex It Up"
Maggie Gyllenhaal once opened up about when, back in the day, she was auditioning for a part she really wanted in a movie. She was wearing a black linen dress. During the audition, she was told the dress wasn’t hot enough.She also was asked to come back later and “sex it up a bit.” So, for this, she put on leather pants and a pink leopard skinny camisole. Still, she didn’t get the part.
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
#24 Elizabeth Banks Was Told She Was Too Old To Play Spiderman Girlfriend When She Was Only A Year Older Than Spiderman's Actor
Elizabeth Banks auditioned for the role of Mary-Jane Watson in the first Spider-Man movie opposite Tobey Maguire. But she was told she was too old to play the role of Spider-Man’s girlfriend. She is only a year older than Tobey Maguire, and at the time of the audition, she was only 28.The role of Mary-Jane Watson went to Kirsten Dunst, who was only 20 at the time. Elizabeth got a smaller role of Betty Brant, secretary at the Daily Bugle.
Image credits: uk.movies.yahoo.com
#25 Sophia Bush Had To Audition Three Times To Fit The Right Amount Of Sexiness The Casting Directors Were Looking For
For her role in “One Tree Hill,” Sophia Bush auditioned three times because of the absurd requests from casting directors. During her first audition, she was told she wasn’t sexy enough, and during the second one, she was too sexy. So, only the third time was the charm.
Image credits: scotsmike
#26 Kristen Bell Was Told She Wasn't Pretty And Wasn't Quirky Enough
Kristen Bell said she was once told she wasn’t pretty enough to play the pretty girl and wasn’t quirky enough to play the weird girl during her early career. The actress said these kinds of comments were often very confusing.
Image credits: Vanity Fair
#27 When Auditioning For Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews Was Told She Was "Too Pretty" But "Got The Nose For It"
The author of “Mary Poppins,” Pamela Lyndon Travers, told Julie Andrews, who was auditioning to play Mary Poppins: “You're far too pretty, of course, but you’ve got the nose for it.”
Image credits: www.independent.co.uk
#28 Zoe Kazan Felt Pressured To Be Flirty During An Audition
Zoe Kazan shared that she felt pressured to be flirty during an audition.She also said she had been asked to “wear something body-conscious” during the auditions, which made her aware that the casting crew was checking out her body. “You leave the situation feeling not good about what just happened, but you don't really have the language for why. You feel like, if you said something, it would reflect badly on you.”
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
#29 Camila Mendes Was Told She Wasn't "Glossy" Enough
When Camila Mendes was auditioning for “Riverdale,” she was told that she wasn't "glossy" enough for the network, as her hair was frizzy from the rain. She was asked to come back in a few days.And she did. For that, she asked her friend to do her makeup to look glowy.
Image credits: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
#30 January Jones Was Asked To "Dance A Pole Dance Without A Pole"
January Jones revealed the incident that happened during her second-ever audition, that was for “Coyote Ugly,” which left her mortified. After she did a reading for the part, Jerry Bruckheimer wanted her to dance a pole dance without a pole on top of the table to Prince’s “Kiss.”Later, he said to her that she did great at reading, but she had no rhythm, which prompted the actress to call her agent and say that she didn’t want to do this anymore.
Image credits: www.stylist.co.uk
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