12 stars who auditioned for popular movie roles but didn't get them

Lucy Hale is well known for her role on ABC Family/Freeform's "Pretty Little Liars," but she recently told the Associated Press that she also auditioned for the lead in "Fifty Shades of Grey."

"It wasn't actual scenes from the movie, but it was a very sexually forward monologue and I didn't really even know what I was saying in the audition," she told the publication. "I was a little naive about it all, but yes, I did audition."

"I obviously didn't get the part," Hale continued. "But it was good for me because it scared the crap out of me to do an audition [like that]."

The part eventually went to Dakota Johnson.

According to Vanity Fair's article for the 20th anniversary of "Clueless," in 2015, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Reese Witherspoon were among the actress who sent tapes or auditioned for the part of Cher Horowitz.

The iconic role was later given to Alicia Silverstone.

On a 2019 episode of his podcast "Prinze and the Wolf," Freddie Prinze Jr. spoke with Josh Wolf about his experience auditioning for "Spider-Man" in the early 2000s. The role eventually went to Tobey Maguire.

" ... I got a meeting with Sam [Raimi], and I was super excited, super nervous," Prince Jr. said. "Went it and we sat down — it was only like three people that he was talking to — and I sat down and he goes 'So, tell me, tell me why you love Spider-Man?'"

"I go into this whole like universe of what my favorite parts of 'Spider-Man' were, and I foolishly bring up the alien symbiote, which is Venom, right," he continued. " ... When I left I literally was like 'You just talked about Venom instead of Spider-Man for 25 minutes you stupid a--hole,' and I drove home so upset and angry."

According to a 2017 interview with Vulture, Miles Teller was supposed to play the leading role in the hit movie musical after working with director Damien Chazelle on "Whiplash," but eventually, Ryan Gosling was recast in the part.

"When that movie was almost falling apart, I stayed attached to it and told directors that I really wanted to work with that I couldn't jump ship from 'La La Land' just because the project was in flux," Teller said. "I'll go to my grave knowing that when push came to shove I expressed extreme loyalty to Damien and that movie. That's sorta all I can say."

Kristen Dunst ended up getting cast as Judy Shepard, but according to Vanity Fair, an 11-year-old Scarlett Johansson also sent in a tape for the role.

Robert De Niro is well known for playing Vincent Corleone starting in "The Godfather: Part II," but according to an interview with CNN, the actor auditioned for the role of Santino "Sonny" Corleone in the first film.

The part ended up going to James Caan, but director Francis Ford Coppola liked him so much that he gave him a leading role in the sequel.

Kurt Russell's Han Solo audition tape has resurfaced online over the years, but Harrison Ford won out the iconic "Star Wars" role.

In 2017, Russell told USA Today, "I was actually in the final running, but I needed to give an answer to ABC to do a Western show. I asked George [Lucas], 'Do you think you're going to use me?' He said, 'I don't know if I'm going to put you with him, or him, or those two guys'... I gotta go to work, so I do the Western."

The actress and entrepreneur auditioned for the role of Agent 99 in the action-comedy remake, but it was given to Anne Hathaway instead.

According to Backstage magazine, Jessica Alba's audition tape for the role surfaced online in 2015.

Julia Roberts auditioned for the leading role of Natalie Becker in the 1980s teen rom-com, but the role ultimately went to Jennifer Connelly.

Backstage magazine also reported about her audition tape surfacing online around the same time as Jessica Alba's "Get Smart" tape.

According to Entertainment Tonight, Britney Spears was in talks for the leading role of Allie Calhoun, which went to Rachel McAdams.

Other stars who were turned down for the part include Witherspoon, Jessica Biel, and Jessica Simpson.

Although she ended up in another legendary young-adult film series, Jennifer Lawrence originally auditioned for the leading role in "Twilight," according to Us Weekly.

"I didn't know what it was," Lawrence said. "You just get like five pages [at the audition] and they're like, 'Act monkey.' And when it came out I was like, 'Hot damn. Whoa.'"

The role ended up going to Kristin Stewart.

Matthew McConaughey had a shot at the iconic leading role in "Titanic."

"The audition went really well. Well enough where, when I was left, I was being slapped on the back ... well enough where you go outside and call your agent and say 'Oh, I nailed it,'" McConaughey said on a 2019 episode of "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen."

Despite McConaughey's feelings about the audition, Leonardo DiCaprio landed the iconic role.

Read more:

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• 15 iconic TV characters who were almost played by someone else