Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen Talk Audition Failures on A24 Podcast

Olivia Wilde (Don’t Worry Darling) has admitted she thought she was a top contender for the lead role in Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar winning picture Gravity. Wilde, who is currently promoting her new movie The Invite, was chatting with co-star Seth Rogen (The Studio) on the A24 podcast about their worst auditions.

“I think quite a few of us thought we were getting the role in Gravity that was Sandra Bullocks‘‘, Wilde admitted, laughing. “They put us in a pod. It felt very legit because they had a real pod.” When Rogen asked how many actresses had been put in the pod, Wilde named Kate Hudson (Song, Sung, Blue), Jessica Chastain, Sienna Miller, and Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada 2) as actresses considered for the role. Wilde joked that Bullock got the role because she refused to go in the pod. “She was like, “I’m not getting in there,” and they’re like, “You can have the role then.”

One of the film’s most intense scenes is Bullock’s return to earth, which in the audition process, involved crawling around on fake grass. Wilde cringed remembering this, with Rogen calling it the “worst thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life“, even joking that Wilde must sell the scene of her “on the astroturf of an audition room“.

SUPPORT US!!! WE ARE A SMALL, INDEPENDENT FILM WEBSITE WITH NO BIG BACKERS, SO IF YOU LOVE OUR SITE AND OUR WRITERS, PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING US TO KEEP FILM JOURNALISM ALIVE!

It seems Gravity isn’t the only cringe-inducing audition process Wilde remembers. She reflected on her audition for Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life, calling that experience “hideously embarrassing”. Malick gave a confusing direction of “be grace“, which Wilde said was “so weird“.

Wilde had also auditioned for the 2012 film Rock of Ages, opposite Tom Cruise, who she described as “such a nice man” and “so encouraging” throughout the audition process. She sang Foreigners ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’, which Wilde noted is not an easy song. Malin Akerman was eventually cast in this role.

But it seems Wilde isn’t the only one with past audition woes. Rogen shared that he once auditioned for Martin Brest’s 2003 film Gigli for the role of a “cognitively impaired” man. At the time, Rogen thought he had “crushed it”, but reflecting now, remarked “if that tape got out, it would destroy my career.” This role ultimately went to Justin Bartha (The Hangover).

Although Wilde and Rogen did not find success in these particular roles, both have made a name for themselves in Hollywood through their writing, acting, and directing, with The Invite their most recent project.

Wilde directs and stars in The Invite, opposite Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton. Rashida Jones & Will McCormack wrote the screenplay. Megan Ellison, David Permut and Ben Browning are attached as producers. The Invite is an English remake of the 2020 Spanish film, The People Upstairs, by Cesc Gay.