Austin Butler Shares He Auditioned to Play This Hunger Games Role
Originally appeared on E! Online
Austin Butler is sharing a page from his audition diaries.
The Elvis star revealed that he went out for one of the leading roles in the 2012 movie The Hunger Games but "didn't get it at all."
"I don't even think I got a callback," Austin said in a June 26 video for BuzzFeed Celeb, "for the character Peeta."
The Bikeriders actor went on to shout out Josh Hutcherson, who wound up booking the part in the film alongside Jennifer Lawrence (who played Katniss) and Liam Hemsworth (Gale), saying, "He's great."
But not all of Austin's auditions have ended in disappointment. The 32-year-old previously detailed the five-month journey he went through to land his titular role in the Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in 2023.
"From the start, I knew Baz doesn’t just do auditions, he does workshops," Austin recalled in a February 2023 interview with Variety. "So, I knew it would be a process. I was able to keep my head down and concentrate on the work and try not to get too invested in thinking of it as my part."
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Ultimately, the Carrie Diaries alum—who worked with dialect, movement and singing coaches for months just to audition—secured the job after wowing Baz with a spontaneous video of himself singing Elvis' song "Unchained Melody" in a bathrobe.
“I got to be honest," he said of starring in the film, "I just feel so fortunate.”
Still, Austin doesn't look back on auditions that didn't earn him roles as wastes of time.
"You get told 'no' so many times," he explained. "And early on someone told me something that really helped. They said, 'It’s a numbers game. Prepare to go to 100 auditions before you book one.'"
Keep reading for more iconic roles that almost went to other actors.
Chris Pine as Ryan Atwood on The O.C.
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Jason Biggs as Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother
"I was offered the role and it's probably my biggest regret, you know, on passing," the American Pie alum revealed in a 2021 SiriusXM interview. "I think I was in a phase of, at the time—it sounds so obnoxious to say right now—but at the time it was like, 'Okay, do I want to do TV?' I don't know that I was quite ready to go that route."
Alden Ehrenreich as Dan on Gossip Girl
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Rob Lowe as Derek Shepherd on Grey's Anatomy
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Tiffani Thiessen as Rachel on Friends
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Katherine Langford as Betty Cooper on Riverdale
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Katherine Heigl as Jen Lindley on Dawson's Creek
It's hard to imagine anyone else playing Capeside's resident NYC transplant, but as creator Kevin Williamson revealed to Entertainment Weekly, the role of Jen almost went to future Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl, thanks to pilot director Steve Miner, who brought the star of his 1994 film My Father the Hero to Williamson's attention. "She looked slightly older at that time. Even though she was younger, I just think she was more mature," Williamson recalled. "She gave a great audition, I remember we were all sort of like, ‘Wow, she's good.'"
Selma Blair as Joey Potter on Dawson's Creek
The role of Dawson Leery's lovesick BFF Joey Potter turned Katie Holmes into a star, but the part almost wasn't hers. As creator Kevin Williamson admitted to Entertainment Weekly, the role was Selma Blair's to eventually lose. "I really loved Selma until, of course, I got the infamous videotape from the basement of the Holmes family in Toledo, Ohio,"he said of Holmes' last-minute audition. "And when that video showed up, it changed my whole life."
Lisa Edelstein as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City
The House and Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce actress was so close to taking on the iconic role of Carrie Bradshaw that she even had a completed contract. In the end, however, she was just the back-up to the producers' first choice, Sarah Jessica Parker. "I was either going to do it or not. It all depended on whether she said yes," Edelstein said. "My contract was complete. I was waiting." While we struggle to imagine a world in which SJP is not Carrie Bradshaw, Edelstein actually makes a lot of sense.
Ashley Olsen as Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl
Initially, The CW wanted Ashley Olsen as our favorite beautiful blonde Upper East Sider, casting director David Rapaport told Buzzfeed, but he only had eyes for Lively. "I was terrified we wouldn't get her or they wouldn't like her because, honestly, the show lived and died on her and I had absolutely no other ideas," he said.
Rumer Willis as Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl
The CW wanted future Dancing With the Stars champion Rumer Willis as the Gossip Girl lead, but casting director Rapaport knew she wasn't right for the role (and would eventually cast her on 90210). "I love Rumer," he told Buzzfeed. "She's grown into quite an amazing actress and person, but that, to me, was based on protecting the investment of a television show where creatively, these lesser-known girls really captured the essence of the show and carried it for six years."
Keke Palmer as Iris West on The Flash
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Yep, Robin Scherbatsky could have been Kate Austen, and two of our favorite shows were almost very different, according to Cobie Smulders.
Both she and Evangeline Lilly were "testing for Lost," Smulders revealed to E! News in 2014. "She owes a lot to me because I went in and I bombed the audition. And she was like, 'Thank you!'"
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Gillian Anderson as Lady Cora on Downton Abbey
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