It’s easy to get a part when you’re a star. As a matter of fact, famous celebrities are bombarded with offers. But when you’re just another actor or actress, getting the part is a grueling, mind-numbing process, which hopefully leads to one, single make or break point – the audition. The great thing about auditions is: once you’ve survived that first audition – you get to do it all over again, especially for major roles. Once past that initial audition, an unknown actor may have to audition for junior executives, audition for the producers, audition for the director. If all of these people say yes – great news! You may get to audition for the real decision makers, the upper executives. Yes, being a celebrity has its advantages. But before the rich and famous became rich and famous, they were just another struggling actor or actress auditioning like the rest of us schlubs.
With that in mind, here is a collection of celebrity audition tapes for the roles that made the stars, and some auditions for those who didn’t get the parts.
Celebrity Acting Audition Tapes – How Stars Got Their Famous Roles
Miley Cyrus – Audition for Hannah Montana
Miley Cyrus was originally rejected for the title role in Hannah Montana. Disney exec’s determined she was too small for the part. This didn’t deter the 11-year-old. She kept trying, and her persistence paid off in another audition. She was 12 by this time, and she landed the role.
To view this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Bruce Lee – TV Audition
In this rare footage, Bruce Lee demonstrates some of the moves that made him a legend. This audition tape is more of an introduction into martial arts and filming martial arts.
To view this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Carrie Fisher – Princess Leia Audition
Descending from Hollywood royalty herself, Carrie Fisher was a natural to play the young, spunky princess who leads a band of rebels. Carrie Fisher beat out Sissy Spacek, Cindy Williams and Jody Foster for the role of Princess Leia.
To view this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Josh Holloway – Lost
Before rocketing to fame as James “Sawyer” Ford on the hit show Lost, Josh Holloway appeared in a number of television show episodes including Walker, Texas Ranger and CSI. He was also in the Aerosmith video for the song, “Cryin’.”
To view this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Kelly Clarkson – First American Idol Audition
Although a musician, Clarkson rose to fame on American Idol, so technically she was auditioning for a role on TV. Okay, so that’s a thin pretext, but the audition is so good, I couldn’t NOT include it.
To view this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Gerard Butler – Dracula 2000 Audition
Before kicking some serious computer-generated butt I the movie 300, this Scottish actor appeared in a number of other films, such as Tomb Raider, the TV miniseries Atilla, and of course Wes Craven’s Dracula 2000.
To view this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Although Fox had a major role in Party of Five, his celebrity rose considerably when he landed the role of Jack Shepard on Lost.
To view this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Evangeline Lilly — Lost
Another star from the show, Lost, Evangeline Lilly appeared in bit roles in The Lizzy McGuire Movie and Freddy vs. Jason.
To see this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Jennifer Hill
Jennifer Hill began her career as a child actress, appearing in numerous commercials. This ad work led to a career behind the scenes at an ad agency. She switched gears with an audition for the role of co-host on the Canadian sports trivia show, Game On.
To see this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Mark Hamill – Star Wars Audition
By all accounts, the casting sessions for Star Wars were lengthy. Lucas combined his search with Brian DePalma who was casting Carrie at the same time. While the reserved Lucas studied his actors from the background, the more gregarious DePalma virtually dominated the auditions.
Hamill beat out William Katt (of Greatest American Hero fame) and many others for the role of Luke.
To watch this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Cindy Williams – Star Wars Audition
Although William’s starred in Lucas’ American Grafitti, that was actually a strike against her as Lucas didn’t want to use any actors from the earlier movie. Cindy Williams would of course go on to star as Shirley Feeney in the hit show Laverne and Shirley.
To see who Princess Leia might have been had she been from 1950s Milwaukee, click HERE.
Harrison Ford – Star Wars Audition
Harrison Ford was doing some carpentry work in the same building that Lucas was holding his casting call for Star Wars. Lucas, who knew Harrison from American Grafitti, tapped Ford to help him read some actors auditioning Luke and the other Star Wars roles. Ford turned out to read the part better than any of the other actors, and the rest, as they say, is history. Ford beat out Kurt Russel, Nick Nolte, Christopher Walken and Billy Dee Williams (who would go on to play Lando).
To see this celebrity audition tape, click HERE.
Cameron Diaz – Unknown Audition Tape /Home Movie
Cameron Diaz began her career as a model before she auditioned for a role in the Jim Carrey movie, The Mask. Despite having no acting experience, she got the part. Upon landing her first role, she then quickly signed up for acting lessons. It’s debatable as to whether this footage is an actual audition tape, but it’s fun to see a young Cameron goofing off for the camera.
To see this footage, click HERE.
The best thing about seeing celebrity audition tapes is watching famous stars when they were just struggling actors — one audition away from becoming household names.
