Actors Who Auditioned For A Different Role Than The One They Landed

Can you imagine Dorothy Gale without Judy Garland? How about Jules Winnfield without Samuel L. Jackson? Is there an Indiana Jones, a Han Solo, or a Rick Deckard without Harrison Ford? Sure, one can imagine pale imitations of these iconic characters played by other actors, but that's all they are — imitations. The most memorable roles in movie history were created by writers, directors, costumers, and cinematographers working in harmony, but without the right person donning those costumes, reading those lines, and being framed in those shots, it's all for naught.

These perfect pairings of role and actor seem inevitable, but they're anything but. In fact, sometimes actors who go on to play a character that will make them famous get there by auditioning for an entirely different role. Legendary villains have their roots in actors trying out for the role of the hero, and unforgettable do-gooders are sometimes born from auditions for bad guys. These are the actors who landed an entirely different role than the one they auditioned for.

Regina George is, as you may have heard, flawless. She's gorgeous, she's popular, and she's utterly ruthless. Mean Girls might be about taking her, and the system she operates within, down, but no one can deny her magnetism. Rachel McAdams is perfectly cast as the adolescent ice queen, especially in opposition to Lindsay Lohan's naive, homeschooled Cady ... but those roles were very nearly switched. Ten years after the film's debut, director Mark Waters revealed Lohan initially auditioned for the role of Regina, and McAdams tried out for the role of Cady.

"[Lohan's] energy is a very aggressive, testosterone-laden energy, and that's exactly what I knew I needed for Regina George," Waters reflected. But McAdams wasn't quite right as Cady, and Lohan was then riding high off Freaky Friday's success, in which she played a likable everygirl. Thus, McAdams became the chilling vision of blonde perfection that is Regina George, and Lohan stepped into the role of Cady Heron, Mathlete extraordinaire.

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica. Dwight Schrute is a man so strange and singular, these three nouns have come to symbolize him. Dwight is a farmer, a Starcraft enthusiast, a megalomaniac, and a passionate devotee of mustard-colored button-down shirts. It's impossible to imagine anyone but the incomparable Rainn Wilson playing the role, yet that was very nearly the case. Even more shockingly, Wilson initially auditioned for what might just be the only Office character more iconic than Dwight — Michael Scott.

Wilson revealed in a 2013 NPR interview that he did indeed audition for the role of Michael ... and that he's deeply embarrassed by his audition tape. "I just basically did my Ricky Gervais impersonation because I really didn't know what to do with the character," he lamented. But Dwight was another story entirely. "I knew Dwight was the one that was right in my wheelhouse. And I was like, oh, let me at this one." The rest is history — muddy, beet-stained, Schrute Buck-littered history.

Alice Cullen, an immortal vampire with the ability to see the future, is one of the Twilight series most truly likable and supportive characters. When Bella turns 18, it's Alice who organizes her birthday party. When the villainous Volturi move to take Bella out, it's Alice who convinces them to leave her alone. On Bella's wedding day, Alice is there, ready with makeup palettes and curling irons. Ashley Greene plays her with elfin aplomb. Alice, in her hands, is compelling enough to helm her own series of movies.

However, Greene originally auditioned for the role of Bella, and she was disappointed when she didn't get it. But all was not lost, as Greene was brought back to audition for the role of Alice. "I worked more on it — that was all I did for a couple of days before I went in," she recalled in 2009. "I came in probably like five times before I actually got the role — and then I went home for Christmas and literally just had to wait and wait." As far as the fans are concerned, it all worked out for the best. Who else could've brought Alice to such lovable life?

Unlike so many Marvel heroes, T'Challa isn't quick with a quip. The star of Black Panther is, in fact, one of the few MCU characters who seems to truly think before he speaks — perhaps because he's a king, and unlike, say, Thor, particularly conscious of his power. Chadwick Boseman brings a fascinating solemnity to the character. He isn't quiet, but he isn't uncomfortable with quiet. There's a reason he's the first character to emerge from the portals at the end of Avengers: Endgame: T'Challa's sheer presence makes it immediately clear that things are about to change.

It seems absurd to imagine Boseman in any other role, let alone a goofy one. After all, pre-Panther, the man made a career of portraying people like Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson, and other figures of massive cultural import. But in fact, Boseman originally auditioned to play Drax. Yeah, that's right, Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy, the guy who thinks he becomes invisible when he stands still. Though he didn't get the part, casting director Sarah Finn was impressed, and Boseman credits her with keeping him in mind when Marvel embarked upon the search for T'Challa. Sometimes, being in the room with the people who make decisions is what makes all the difference.

As Alex Vause, Piper Chapman's drug-running ex-girlfriend in Orange is the New Black, Laura Prepon absolutely shines. Alex's life is riddled with bad choices, many of which she makes over the course of the show's run. But there's something about her that just won't stop trying to do right by the people she loves. After years of betrayal, forgiveness, mistakes, and way too many ill-advised hookups, Alex and Piper end up together, ready to face the post-prison future.

It's hard to picture anyone but Laura Prepon wearing Alex's signature glasses, but in fact, Prepon originally auditioned to play Piper. Showrunner Jenji Kohan didn't think Prepon, who exudes street smarts, would work as the naive Piper, but the audition still made one heck of an impression. "I was so dazzled by how f***ing good she was that it just was like, 'All right, what are we going to do with her?'" Kohan recounted in 2014. Thus, the role of Alex was tailored to Prepon's talents, and Piper's eventual prison wife was born.