# Do actors always have to audition for parts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966 "2010-03-02T05:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/21 "2010-03-04T02:35:28Z")
I’ve heard various director/screenwriters say that they wrote a particular character specifically for a particular actor. I was thinking Bill Murray in [Lost in Translation](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335266/trivia) and IMDB bears me out. > [@](#): > > Sofia Coppola wrote the lead role specifically for Bill Murray, and later said that if Murray turned it down, she wouldn’t have done the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/22 "2010-03-04T02:45:15Z")
John Waters lobbied Don Cornelius pretty aggressively to be the narrator for **Pink Flamingos**. Cornelius refused and Waters wound up doing it himself. I don’t think Waters, at this point in his career, was typical of mainstream filmmaking. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/23 "2010-03-04T04:41:16Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > That strikes me as odd, because I was always under the impression that auditions for professional productions were less about seeing whether or not an actor could _act_, and more about how a particular actor would play a particular _part_. All actors are different, so it would make sense for directors and casting directors to gauge which actor’s interpretation they preferred more. I am admittedly ignorant on most things show business, having only acted in a couple school plays, so I might just be pulling this out of my ass. That’s what I understand, too. I actually think it’s a bit of an insult if they don’t ask you to audition. It means they’ve seen enough of you and think you are predictable enough that they know how you would act in that role. If I were one of those “acting is my job” people, I’d want to audition anyway. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/24 "2010-03-04T05:10:24Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Now _that_ would have been an very interesting choice. It’s a bit of a shame he didn’t get it, actually - would have been neat to see Garcia show a bit more range. Sawyer has that, Hurley rarely does. Interesting, yes, but how could it have worked out for Hurley? Sawyer is a con man, travels around, knows how to disappear in a hurry, makes suckers out of people, romances women to get their money. I can’t see Hurley doing all that without being caught and jailed tout suite. “Yes, detective, a con man cheated me out of my life savings! Description? Oh, long fuzzy hair, about 5’8”, between 300 and 400 lbs. Dresses in a tent size red t-shirt and shorts, you can’t miss him." Whereas Sawyer can do his conning without standing out like an elephant in the back yard, and is good looking enough to bamboozle dozens of swooning dumb women with little effort. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/25 "2010-03-04T05:12:48Z")
There’s auditions, and there’s screen tests. I would imagine most actors, even the biggest names, still screen test, but not all actors audition. Screen testing is putting actors with the other cast members on camera to see if there’s the right chemistry, amongst other things. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/26 "2010-03-04T14:45:04Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Interesting, yes, but how could it have worked out for Hurley? Sawyer is a con man, travels around, knows how to disappear in a hurry, makes suckers out of people, romances women to get their money. I can’t see Hurley doing all that without being caught and jailed tout suite. “Yes, detective, a con man cheated me out of my life savings! Description? Oh, long fuzzy hair, about 5’8”, between 300 and 400 lbs. Dresses in a tent size red t-shirt and shorts, you can’t miss him." Whereas Sawyer can do his conning without standing out like an elephant in the back yard, and is good looking enough to bamboozle dozens of swooning dumb women with little effort. The character would have had to be changed, I think - but I could see Sawyer/Garcia’s basic likeability being used to good effect. And there’s no reason Garcia couldn’t cultivate a bit more charisma - the man _is_ a good actor. Put him in a tent-size suit instead of the shirt, have him tweak the cons to suit his strengths, and I think you could make it work. Probably not the romance angle, though - that would have to go. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/27 "2010-03-04T14:51:46Z")
You don’t have to be an A-list actor not to have to audition. My sister-in-law does commercials, training videos and the occasional corporate photo shoot. She’s well-known enough in her niche that she’s been called out of the blue because some corporate PR or training person saw her on a calendar. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/28 "2010-03-04T14:54:19Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > I read an article a while back about an audition for **The Godfather**. The story went something like this: > > Coppola really wanted Brando to play Don Vito Corleone. The studio heads, apparently thinking that Brando was too young to play the old Don, wanted him to audition for the part. Coppola knew that asking a star of Brando’s stature (this was before he became a joke, remember) to audition would be horribly insulting. To sidestep the issue, he asked Brando to come in for a “voice and makeup test”, recorded it, and made that Brando’s audition. Brando’s cheeks-stuffed-with-cotton performance won over the studio heads, and he got the role. > > I think the book’s at the house, I’ll try to find the article. Found the article, here’s some more information: Specifically, it was Paramount’s president, Stanley Jaffe, who didn’t want Brando to play Don Vito. First, he thought that Brando was too young, at age 47. Second, Brando had earlier cost Paramount a lot of money when they’d backed Brando’s directorial debut, a loser called **One-Eyed Jacks** , in 1961. Brando caused the movie to run way over budget. So, when Coppola lobbied for Brando, Jaffe finally caved, with three conditions: that Brando would accept a much lower salary than usual, that he would pay out of his own pocket for any production delays, and that he would submit to an audition. And the rest happened as I posted earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/29 "2010-03-04T14:58:14Z")
Did Brando get a cut of the profit from the Godfather since he took a low salary? (yes I know that profit in Hollywood can be very hard to define) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/30 "2010-03-04T15:31:22Z")
I recall years ago reading an interview with an actress who complained that some stars are notorious for wanting to do auditions with prospective leading ladies to check their “compatibility” in the intimate scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/31 "2010-03-04T16:45:13Z")
I would say yes and no. I recall an interview with Olivia Newton-John saying Alan Carr offered her the part of Sandy in “Grease,” without any audition. But she says she asked for one to make sure she could handle it. And Newton-John only had one prior movie to that, the ill fated [Toomorrow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toomorrow_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/32 "2010-03-04T19:20:25Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > You don’t have to be an A-list actor not to have to audition. My sister-in-law does commercials, training videos and the occasional corporate photo shoot. **She’s well-known enough** in her niche that she’s been called out of the blue because some corporate PR or training person saw her on a calendar. Bolding mine [SIZE=2]This is the gold standard. It is not a matter of being well known or well paid in the public eye. It is a matter of being known enough to producers/directors/studio execs/casting people that they know which parts would be right for you without having to see an audition.[/SIZE] ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/33 "2010-03-04T22:02:16Z")
> [@Random\_Design](#): > > ETA - I think it was Jorge Garcia (Hurley) who auditioned for the part of Sawyer, but the producers liked him so much they created Hurley for him Same thing happened with Yunjin Kim, who originally auditioned to play Kate. (Which then led them to add Daniel Dae Kim as Jin.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/34 "2010-03-05T00:25:10Z")
I thing Jorge Garcia auditioned for the part of Charlie not Sawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/35 "2010-03-05T00:39:39Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Did Brando get a cut of the profit from the Godfather since he took a low salary? (yes I know that profit in Hollywood can be very hard to define) Yes. I’ve read that he was offered $50,000 plus 5% of the profits, which he later sold back to the studio for $300,000. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/36 "2010-03-05T05:13:24Z")
[Here](http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2007/09/pre-production-day-9-13.html) you can find an interesting piece by [John Rogers](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0736966/) regarding Hollywood auditions. He wrote it after the initial auditions for _Leverage_, a series he created & helped write. > [@John Rogers](#): > > This hierarchy of casting – offer only, offer dependent on a meeting, meeting, audition. etc. – is one of the many oddly codifed status systems in Hollywood, somehow both rigorous and undefinable. It is dedicated to maintaining egos and power balance for all parties involved … ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966/37 "2010-03-05T14:27:12Z")
When The Golden Girls was being cast, Rue McClanehan was asked to audition for Rose based on her role as Vivien, Maude’s dim witted friend. Betty White was asked to audition for Blanche, based on her role as Sue Ann Nivens. When Rue saw the script, she knew she’d be perfect as Blanche. The casting people finally told her to leave because Betty White had asked to audition for Rose and was perfect, so Rue asked to audition for Blanche. The casting people loved her, but told her Bea Arthur had turned down the role of Dorothy, Rue called her and asked wht. Bea: Because I don’t want to do Maude and Vivien meet Sue Ann. Rue: No. I’m playing Blanche and Betty is plaing Rose. There was a very long pause, then Bea said "That might be interesting. And TV magic was born. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-actors-always-have-to-audition-for-parts/530966.md?page=1)