10 celebrities who lied to get a role in a movie or TV show — and there are some surprising names
Hollywood is a brutal industry where landing a part can sometimes be as tough as climbing Mount Everest. With hordes of new and talented faces competing to get their big break, it can become way too hard for newcomers to secure a decent acting gig. The struggle becomes more intense when you are without a guiding force. As such it is no surprise that sometimes actors lie. Remember Joey Tribbiani claiming he can horse ride in 'Friends'? Well, TV scripts tend to be based on real-life scenarios. Here are ten familiar faces who had to lie to bag roles in movies or TV shows.
1. Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway needs no introduction. The actress is known for her versatile acting chops. However, there was a time when the 'The Princess Diaries' actress had to lie to secure a role in 'Brokeback Mountain.' For her audition, Hathaway took her parents' advice and lied to director Ang Lee about her skills, as she admitted in an interview with Out magazine, as per Ranker. The actress said, "When I left the audition, the last thing Ang said was, 'Oh, by the way, can you ride a horse?'" She added, "My parents have given me a lot of gifts in my life, and one of them is: If you’re ever asked if you can do anything, say yes. You can learn anything in two weeks if you’re motivated enough." Despite having never ridden a horse before, she confidently responded, "Oh yeah, I’m a really good rider," and worked hard to master horseback riding, becoming "really, really, really good."
2. Robert Pattinson
Robert Pattinson has the notoriety for fabricating over-the-top stories and that too just for fun. So, it was no surprise when it was revealed that Pattinson lied to secure an advance in his acting career. In early auditions, Pattinson used to pretend to be from Michigan to hide his accent, as casting directors often expressed concerns about it, as reported by NYLON. The 'Twilight' actor shared, "I used to always come in as a different person, an American. I’d say, ‘Hi, I’m from Michigan." However, during an audition for 'Transformers 2 after 'Twilight' had been released, he tried a new approach, pretending to be from Denver. Pattinson recalled, "They called my agent and were like, ‘What’s wrong with him? Why was he doing an improv? A really boring improv?"
3. Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock is a name to be reckoned with in Hollywood, so it is indeed a surprise to know the diva had to lie early in her career to secure acting gigs. Back in 1992, when Bullock was a rookie and trying to land a role in 'Love Potion 2,' the actress lied about her age, as per She Knows. To appear more seasoned and increase her chances, Bullock claimed to be older than she was; a tactic that ultimately paid off, as she secured the role.
4. Sadie Sink
Sadie Sink may be the youngest on this list but has a huge fan base thanks to her stint on 'Stranger Things.' However, Sink revealed that she lied to land her part in the iconic show. In a conversation with Coveteur, Sink shared, "They wanted a girl that had skateboard experience, and I didn’t have skateboarding experience at all." She revealed, "They asked me, ‘Oh, do you have any rollerblading experience?’ I was like, 'Uh, sure I do,' which was technically not a lie because I have rollerbladed before. In reality, I probably haven’t [roller] skated for a year."
5. Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis is another actress who lied about her age to land her iconic role as Jackie Burkhart in the smash hit sitcom 'That '70s Show.' In a conversation with Variety, Kunis openly admitted to lying about her age to get an audition. She shared, "There’s a rumor going around that I may or may not have lied about my age. I’d like to make it very clear now that I did lie." Kunis revealed that, when she went for a producer’s network call, she had to sign a contract but added an asterisk for 'studio teacher' in it, clarifying that she was actually 14 years old. She added, "They were like, ‘What do you mean?’ And I was like, 'Oh P.S., I’m 14.' But at that point, if you talk to the creators, they were like, 'We loved you at that point so what did we care?' Luckily Kunis' lie paid off as she not only secured the iconic role but also met her husband, Ashton Kutcher, on the show itself.
6. Eddie Redmayne
Even the talented Eddie Redmayne had to resort to lying to get a chance to land a role. Redmayne admitted to lying about his horseback riding skills during auditions for Tom Hooper's 2005 show 'Elizabeth I' when he appeared on Conan O’Brien’s late-night show, as per FandomWire. He recalled telling the director, "Yes," when asked if he had ever ridden a horse, even though he had only ridden once at the age of four. Redmayne elaborated on the consequences of his lie to O'Brien, admitting that his lack of experience nearly led to disaster during filming. He confessed, "They called action and I basically went furiously down at 100 miles an hour, almost killed myself, and almost killed half of the crew. Tom Hooper comes from behind Helen Mirren with a huge loudspeaker and goes, 'You’re a f*cking liar, Redmayne." Luckily, things worked out in Redmayne's favor and he started horse riding lessons soon after.
7. Daniel Craig
There are things even James Bond cannot do, and horse riding is one of them. Daniel Craig hence lied about his horseback riding skills. The lie helped him secure various film and TV roles, but it wasn't until his 2011 film 'Cowboys & Aliens' that the truth came out. Craig explained to the Daily Mail that the production team discovered his lack of experience when he struggled with horseback riding sequences, leading to stunt doubles being used for the challenging scenes.
8. Rachel McAdams
Popularly touted as the queen of romance flicks, Rachel McAdams also had to lie and it's no surprise it was about horseback riding. McAdams, terrified and allergic to horses, lied about her love for them to land her role in 'To The Wonder.' "My first day of the shoot I was in the middle of a corral with 50 horses who had never before been touched by humans," she shared with The Guardian. McAdams continued, "It’s like when people ask if you can ride for a medieval film—you think you can just get away with it. And I did, somehow!"
9. Jason Momoa
The heir to the underwater city Atlantis, Jason Momoa, also had to lie to get his breakout role in 'Baywatch: Hawaii.' To get an edge over his fellow actors, Momoa resorted to lying, and surprisingly, it worked for him as well. In a conversation with Square Mile, he recalled his lies from a casting call, "I was like, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm a big model. I do Gucci and Louis Vuitton, and I’m looking at my friend, and I’m like, 'You did Prada, right?' And he’s like, 'Yeah, yeah, we did that in Japan.' So we were just kind of making it up on the spot."
10. Liam Hemsworth
The handsome and suave Liam Hemsworth almost lost the role in 'The Last Song' but seized the chance after a last-minute call from his agent. "My agent calls me, like, whispering, 'You've got to go to Disney right now. It's not working out with the other guy. You've got to go in and read with Miley again," Hemsworth shared with People magazine. However, Hemsworth's audition involved a small lie as he claimed he could convincingly play volleyball, a key skill for the role. According to Vocal Media, he assumed a stunt double would handle the scenes, but he quickly learnt that wasn’t the case.