I Genuinely Can't Watch These 15 Acting Pairs The Same Way Again After Finding Out They Didn't Even Have A Chemistry Test
1.First, Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn "never" did a chemistry read before they started filming Scandal as Olivia and Fitz.
Speaking about how he landed the role of Fitz, Tony said Shonda Rhimes kept him in mind after they met when he directed an episode of Grey's Anatomy in Season 1. He recalled to People, "I didn't see her for eight years, and suddenly she thought, 'Wow, Tony'd be an interesting choice for Fitz.' And 'Tony, you want to play the president on my new show?' Wow. 'Okay, sure. Why not?' So it's funny how things come around."
2.Before starring as Colin and Penelope in Bridgerton, Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton didn't have a chemistry test, but they spent the years prior to Season 3 building their friendship off-screen, so their on-screen chemistry was incredibly strong.
In a joint interview with Refinery29, Nicola said, "I don't have a relationship like anyone in my life like I have with [Luke]." She continued, "It's a very rare experience. I think we're aware of how unique this is."
Speaking about leading Bridgerton together in Season 3, Luke added, "There's something that just bonds you when you do this show with someone. When you lead the show, you're in every day together."
3.Scott Patterson and Lauren Graham didn't have a chemistry test before they were cast as Luke and Lorelai in Gilmore Girls. They met for the first time in a hotel in Canada, and the cast had dinner together before filming the pilot.
Scott recalled to Glamour, "We had a drink first and sat down and got to know each other. I didn't meet any of them before, either."
In an episode of the Gilmore Guys podcast, Scott said that the role of Luke was initially just supposed to be a guest star in the pilot. However, since the pilot opened and closed in Luke's Diner, Scott said he treated the pilot as a "chemistry check." He added, "If you get the job, you go film the pilot. The chemistry, if it's good with Lauren, then you might get some more shows. If it's not good, you're gone."
4.Meanwhile, Milo Ventimiglia was offered the role of Jess Mariano in Gilmore Girls after one audition and without a chemistry test alongside Alexis Bledel.
On an episode of the Gilmore Guys podcast, Milo recalled, "I found out from my reps that they said, 'Hey, they want to make you a regular right away.'" Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino reportedly didn't know what Jess's exact role would be, but she knew they needed to hire Milo.
Later, Milo and Alexis dated in real life from 2003 to 2006.
5.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke didn't do a chemistry read together before they were cast as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon.
In an interview with BuzzFeed, Emma joked, "Chemistry was off menu." Olivia also explained that she and Emma endured a long audition process, saying she found out she was cast at the "end of October" and then met Emma in December.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about their intense audition process, Emma said, "I auditioned [via self-tape] for three months during the pandemic after losing a year of work."
6.Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey had never spoken before they were officially cast as Joel Miller and Ellie Williams in The Last of Us. In fact, they met for the first time over Zoom during the show's sexual harassment prevention training.
With no chemistry read, Pedro realized he had to begin building a friendship with Bella, who would basically be a daughter to him and with whom he would share most of his scenes. He reached out to Bella's mom first.
He told The Hollywood Reporter that he remembered thinking, "How am I going to text a 17-year-old?"
7.During the audition process for Bellamy Blake on The 100, Bob Morley said he never had a chemistry read with anyone, including Eliza Taylor, who starred as Clarke Griffin. He actually booked the role within 10 days.
In a joint interview with TV Insider looking back at The 100, Eliza explained her natural chemistry with both Bob and Alycia Debnam-Carey, who starred as Lexa, saying, "In this industry, you will have romantic pairings on paper that look like they’re going to have fireworks, but if the actors aren’t vibing, it can fall flat. I was so lucky that two of the most important relationships my character had were played by two incredible human beings who were so raw and so real."
Eliza added, "And obviously, I married one of them." Bob and Eliza got married in 2019.
8.When Dan Levy was looking to cast David's love interest for Schitt's Creek, he hired Noah Reid without doing a chemistry test with him. The first time they read together was during the cast's read-through for Patrick's first episode in Season 3.
Dan told Awards Daily, "I think a lot of it was having the ability to control a situation to a certain extent on my part. I wrote a character that I was very clear about in terms of who Patrick was going to be and, hopefully, what the long-term goal would be for him. And I think in having that kind of clarity in the casting process, it just was very clear to me that Noah was the only option for that."
He added that they knew each other "socially" before Noah was cast, so he knew they would work well together. "Although the whole concept of their love story was that they were strangers. So worse comes to worst, we did have that cushion of unfamiliarity to buffer those first few episodes. We were very lucky in the sense that it just worked," Dan recalled.
9.Quinta Brunson actually DM'd Tyler James Williams, asking him to star in Abbott Elementary as Gregory. Tyler revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that after messaging back and forth, Quinta sent him the script, and he said yes, so there was no formal chemistry read process for the two of them.
He added, "I've been a fan of Quinta for so long. We've been friends for a while, and I was looking for an opportunity to work with her again, and this became the perfect one."
In an interview with The Guardian, Quinta talked about how Tyler has become a TV heartthrob while playing Gregory, saying, "What's funny is when Tyler and I started working together, we both knew he was not regarded as this ‘hot man in Hollywood.' I told him: 'Dude, you’re gonna turn into a heartthrob, the way Gregory is getting written.'"
10.Despite both of them being veteran actors, Linda Cardellini and Christina Applegate had never met prior to Dead to Me. While they didn't do a traditional chemistry read, they both had lunch with creator Liz Feldman prior to filming, where she really saw how great they were together.
Liz told BuzzFeed, "I was there the first time they met. We all had lunch. It was one of those moments where you just cross your fingers, and you're like, 'Please, god, let this go well. There's no going back.'"
She continued, saying, "Within a matter of, I would say, four minutes. They were just leaning across the table and connecting. I was just watching two people fall in friendship. I'm really lucky that it happened that way."
11.Zach Braff didn't meet Donald Faison until the very first table read for Scrubs. Despite having to play best friends J.D. and Turk, they didn't meet during the audition process.
In an interview with GQ, Zach recalled, "I was so nervous for the table read, and I knew who Donald was as an actor, and he turned around and gave me the warmest smile and a big hug. And then, of course, when we were shooting the pilot, I could feel that we had really good timing together."
12.Katherine Barrell and Dom Provost-Chalkley didn't meet until Kat showed up on the set of Wynonna Earp for the filming of the second episode when Waverly meets Nicole.
At a fan convention, Dom said to Kat, "You walked up with your cap, and you were getting your hair done, so your hair was all back, and you looked so cool. And I thought, 'Oh no, she's gonna think I'm such a geek.'"
They also recalled walking up to Shamier Anderson, who played Dolls, saying, "My girlfriend's here," when Kat arrived on set.
13.Freddy Carter and Amita Suman didn't have a chemistry read before starring in Shadow and Bone together as Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa. Amita told Collider, "Freddy and I didn’t get any chemistry reads. But as soon as he walked through the door, I knew there was, at least in my eyes, the perfect Kaz."
She continued, explaining that she did have a chemistry test with Kit Young, who starred as Jesper Fahey. She added, "Working with them was just phenomenal."
14.When Stefania Spampinato joined Station 19 after playing Carina DeLuca in Grey's Anatomy, she and Danielle Savre had never met before, and didn't do a chemistry read. The first time they met was during the table read for Stefania's first Station 19 episode.
"The room froze," Stefania told SheKnows when recalling when she and Danielle read the scene during the table read when Carina and Maya talk at Joe's bar.
She continued, "Everybody was holding their breath and it was just a meeting in Joe’s bar. But the chemistry was so strong in that scene the whole room felt it. It was crazy."
15.And finally, Emily Bett Rickards was originally only supposed to appear in one episode of Arrow as Felicity Smoak. She didn't have a chemistry read with Stephen Amell prior to filming, and their chemistry ultimately changed the course of the series.
In an interview with BuzzFeed, showrunner Marc Guggenheim said, "We discovered that the show needed an element that we didn't realize it needed, and that was this levity — this other point of view for Oliver. And it really opened the show up."
Shortly after her one episode, the Arrow writers began writing her into future episodes before she ultimately became a series regular in Season 2, and Oliver's central love interest.
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