5 Actors Who Almost Played Star Trek's Kirk Before Chris Pine

With his quick wits, irrepressible charm, and way with the ladies, William Shatner left an indelible impression on the entire science fiction genre with his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk. Shatner played the part for nearly 30 years across the original "Star Trek" TV series and the ensuing seven feature films. In 2009, J.J. Abrams brought the series back to life with a big budget reboot that saw a new generation of actors stepping aboard the bridge of the USS Enterprise.

Shatner left large shoes to fill, having made himself synonymous with the name Kirk, and taking over the role of the charismatic captain was no easy task. Actors from around the world auditioned for the role, and while it ultimately went to Chris Pine, who turned down the opportunity to star in a "L.A. Confidential" sequel to put on Captain Kirk's yellow Starfleet uniform, the competition for the role was fierce. In this list, we'll break down five of the actors who almost played Kirk. Perhaps in an alternate timeline, they did.

It's never easy to lose out on a part, but Timothy Olyphant took his rejection in stride. In an interview with Happy Sad Confused, the "Justified" actor told the story of how he was decidedly NOT cast as Captain Kirk. "I went in and auditioned not for Captain Kirk," says Olyphant. "but I remember reading with J.J. Abrams and he's just a lovely, lovely guy. And just a lovely audition process. Somewhere in there, I was auditioning for Doc, he's like, 'I already got a guy for Doc, so I don't need you for that, but I don't have a Kirk.'"

Olyphant's salt and pepper hair has made him a sex symbol for several decades now, but he theorizes that his age might have ended up costing him the role. "I believe it was one of those things where it's like he might have been prepared to hire me, but they wanted somebody younger, and he was having a hard time finding somebody younger, And somewhere along the line, J.J. called and said, 'I found a guy, younger, who's really good.'"

For his part, Olyphant is remarkably calm about the whole situation, heaping praise on Pine and his ability to make playing Captain Kirk look easy.

He might be chill because this isn't the first time he's lost out on a major role: he was passed for the title role of "Iron Man," although that ended up offering the opportunity for Olyphant to go from the Enterprise to a galaxy far, far away in "The Mandalorian," which is proof even rejection may not always be such a bad thing.

Sebastian Stan is now famous for playing the Winter Soldier, Captain America's on-again off-again best friend, but he almost broke into stardom years earlier with the role of Captain Kirk. Unlike Olyphant, Stan told Variety about just how desperate he was to get the role. "I was really close and I had a screen test with him at Paramount Studios," says Stan. "And my manager had me do a separate photoshoot where I would try and replicate all of these William Shatner pictures just to send to [J.J.] to see how much I look like him and stuff."

This photoshoot was Stan's fanatic effort to try and prove he could look the part in Captain Kirk's seat. Unfortunately for the "Gossip Girl" actor, the gambit didn't work and the role ultimately went to Pine.

The pathway through Hollywood is littered with these rejections, and Stan is no stranger to them. In the same interview, he shared a story of realizing he was going up against the likes of Justin Timberlake, Jared Leto and Ryan Reynolds for the "Green Lantern" film and realizing just what this level of stardom would do to him.

He'd also end up auditioning for Captain America, and while he wouldn't land that part either, it did open the opportunity for him to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Bucky Barnes. As difficult as rejection can be, in the Variety interview, Stan shares that he probably couldn't have handled the level of attention these roles provide at that time. Today, he's glad that everything worked out the way it did — and so is a legion of Bucky fans.

In the battle of Hollywood Chrises, Chris Pratt is the most omnipresent, thanks to his lead roles in everything from Garfield and Mario to "Jurassic Park." But his rise to being one of Hollywood's most prominent leading men was a rocky one, and in an interview on the Smartless podcast, the actor revealed how demoralized he felt by his rejections for a pair of blockbuster films: Jake Sully in James Cameron's "Avatar" and Captain Kirk in "Star Trek."

"It was so not close that it was really demoralizing and made me actually truly question my potential or what I should be aiming for as an actor," said Pratt. "I just remember reading this character description, 'He walks in and he has the It Factor.' I was feeling a little overweight, I hadn't been taking great care of myself physically, I was in a relationship where we were drinking a lot. I walked in and I started sweating immediately." 

Pratt realized his audition was falling completely flat and went on a soul-searching mission to figure out what he wanted out of his career, beside playing the part of anonymous bad boyfriends. It wasn't until he got the role for Andy Dwyer, the comically inept boyfriend on the sitcom "Parks and Recreation," that he opened himself up to a more energetic and grounded style of performance that has had him making audiences laugh and costars crack up ever since.

There are a myriad of factors that go into selecting the right actor for a role, and even if you get rejected from one, it might open up an opportunity to be considered for another. Just ask Joshua Jackson.

The "Dawson's Creek" actor had a lot of pressure on his shoulders when he went in to audition for Captain Kirk in "Star Trek." "The only audition my darling girlfriend has ever been upset with me for not getting the role is Captain Kirk," Jackson told MTV. "She was like, 'Look honey, don't screw this up. It's Captain Kirk. It's a legendary role. It is a tough act to follow.'"

Redditor u/hotdoug1 was able to see Jackson's audition tape, and remarked that he played the part straight as opposed to trying to do his version of a Shatner impression, which a lot of the other actors had attempted to do.

Much to his girlfriend's dismay, Jackson did not get the role for Kirk, but what he didn't know at the time was that he was also inadvertently auditioning for J.J.'s newest TV show, the mysterious "X-Files" homage "Fringe." Jackson ended up getting cast in that series in the role of scientific genius Peter Bishop, who works with FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) to uncover the cause of various scientific phenomena across America across the show's many great episodes.

It's a story of silver linings, although there's one actor who may just have his story beat.

Joshua Jackson may have been able to turn his failed Captain Kirk audition into another TV role, but MCU Chris Hemsworth was able to still make it into J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek."

Hemsworth recounted his unlikely story in an interview with More Content Now, starting after his performance in the independent film "Ca$h" landed him an audition for Captain Kirk. His audition was early in the casting process, and while he didn't end up in the mustard shirt, later on, J.J. was also searching for an actor who could conceivably be Chris Pine's father, USS Kelvin First Officer George Kirk, whose tragic demise makes up the film's prologue.

"J.J. was trying to find someone for the role of the father," says Hemsworth. "[J.J.] said, 'Remember that guy who came in that was too tall? Who was that guy?'" J.J. went on to track down Hemsworth and bring him in for a new audition, and this time he was offered the job right there on the spot.

This small but memorable role in the film caught audience's attention, and while Hemsworth may have been too tall to play Captain Kirk, he would be just right for the part of Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

So let this be a lesson to all of us: that sometimes when one door closes, another opens. Even if that door doesn't have that legendary whooshing sound that we hear on the Enterprise.