Movie casting is a zero sum game, and there’s more competition than ever for spots on the
big screen.
Performers have to find a way to set themselves apart.
And if that means tinkering with the truth, or putting up with crippling allergies, then
so be it.
Here are 10 Famous Actors Who Lied To Get Their Movie Roles.
Liam Hemsworth, The Last Song Before he played the big-screen version of
Gale in The Hunger Games franchise, Liam Hemsworth was working from a different book.
One written by Nicholas Sparks.
The man behind The Notebook and A Walk to Remember.
In 2010 he starred alongside Miley Cyrus in The Last Song.
And what movie on the beach would be complete without a little volleyball?
Some people are just naturally good at sports.
But it turns out Hemsworth is not one of them.
He assured the team that he was good at volleyball, but when it came time to deliver, he couldn’t.
Mila Kunis, That 70s Show In show business, there are a lot of benefits
that come from lying about your age.
Except usually when people do it, it’s to make themselves younger.
When Mila Kunis went after a spot on That 70’s Show, the team asked her how old she
was.
The world isn’t black and white, so the actress kept her answer grey.
And responded that she’d be eighteen on her birthday.
While that was technically true, her 18th birthday was a few years down the road.
But Kunis pulled it off, and landed herself a breakout role because of it.
Daniel Craig, Cowboys & Aliens Daniel Craig is a macho man of sorts.
And thanks to the four James Bond movies on his resume, the title is well-earned.
The character is known to get into some ridiculous situations.
And most of the fun comes from watching the inventive escape scenes.
As a result, any actor who signs on to play the legendary spy better be versatile.
Craig appeared ready for action, and for the most part, he was.
He may have embellished his horseback riding skills though.
And that came back to bite him again after he was cast in 2011’s Cowboys & Aliens.
You can’t be a cowboy unless you have a horse.
Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect For a long time, comedy has been an all-male
sport.
But over the past few years, it’s been changing.
Slowly but surely, audiences are seeing more and more funny women on screen.
Movies like Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect made box office bank.
What do those two movies have in common?
Rebel Wilson.
The actress had been quoted as saying she was 29 during a round of press for Pitch Perfect.
But then a report surfaced confirming that she was actually in her mid-thirties.
These days it’s impossible to tell someone’s real age.
In Hollywood, it’s not how old you are, but how old you look that counts.
Nicolas Cage, Fast Times at Ridgemont High Fast Times at Ridgemont High is standard teenage
viewing.
And some people consider it to be the best film of the 80’s.
The movie gave us Jeff Spicoli, and the idea to order a pizza right to our classroom.
But if you look hard enough, you’ll see that it also gave us Nicolas Cage.
Apparently the actor was less than stoked about his minimal screen time, and lied about
his age in the hopes of landing a better part.
Nobody bought it.
And since he was a minor, Cage didn’t have the availability to play a larger role anyway.
Rachel McAdams, To the Wonder You wouldn’t tell a singer to stop singing,
don’t expect an actor to stop acting.
They will put themselves through hell if they think the material is worth it.
Case in point: Rachel McAdams.
When she signed on to star in the 2012 Terrence Malick flick To the Wonder, the actress was
adamant about her love of horses.
Which is important, since the character she agreed to play is a horse-wrangler.
Not only is McAdams actually terrified of horses, she’s also very allergic to them.
But unless you went into the film armed with that knowledge, you’d never be able to tell.
George Clooney It’s hard to imagine how Hollywood’s metaphorical
skyline would look without George Clooney in it.
The man is an icon, who can do no wrong as far as his fans are concerned.
So it’s almost impossible to envision a time where he wasn’t always this successful.
Apparently Clooney so desperately wanted to be a part of the Screen Actors Guild, that
he started misrepresenting himself.
And eventually, he told the wrong lie to the wrong person.
The actor was called out for saying he was part of 1982’s Cat People.
The person who caught him?
The casting agent who worked on it.
Chloë Grace Moretz, Hugo If Martin Scorsese’s work is one thing,
it’s specific.
And when a director so renowned puts out a casting call, it attracts people from everywhere.
When it came time to choose the actors for his 2011 film Hugo, a rumor made it’s way
down the line of hopefuls.
Apparently the director was hoping to fill the role with a Brit.
So that’s exactly what Chloë Grace Moretz pretended to be.
Spinning a story about growing up on the countryside, the actress did so with a believable accent.
And if she didn’t accidentally drop it at the end of the meeting, she would have probably
gotten away with it too.
Clearly Scorsese was impressed, since he chose her for the role.
Robert Pattinson, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Since self-promotion is the whole purpose of a resume, we can understand the temptation
to smudge a credential or two.
But if you want a real-life example of someone full-on fabricating their backstory, look
to the beginning of Robert Pattinson’s career.
In the early days, the actor couldn’t find work.
And after being passed over one too many times, started telling the bigwigs that he studied
at Oxford and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Some argue that this lie is the only reason he was cast as Cedric Diggory in the Harry
Potter franchise, but it still doesn’t explain Twilight.
Anne Hathaway, Brokeback Mountain Horses seem to be a common obstacle actors
face when it comes to being cast.
And as we’ve already seen, a good solution is to just lie.
Eager to shake her Princess Diaries reputation, Anne Hathaway was on a mission to really show
off her acting chops.
When the actress was in talks with Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee, she lied about
being proficient with horses.
But by the time filming started, Hathaway had actually learned how.
And now there’s one less person lying about their equestrian expertise.
What do you think of our list?
Did we miss any other famous actors who lied o get their movie roles?
Tell us about them in the comments.
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