1.
After losing out on a role in Crazy Rich Asians, Simu Liu asked his agent what he could’ve done to be cast. “And through some sort of broken telephone, whether it had gone through a studio exec or a casting director before it got to our side, we got, ‘Well, Simu doesn’t have the X factor, the ‘it’ factor,'” Liu revealed. “That was just such a crushing blow for me. I felt like I already worked so hard and come so far as an actor…it just felt like someone was telling me that I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t likable. I didn’t have that thing that made people want to watch it.”
He said that ultimately, the feedback (which was remembered “very differently” by director Jon M. Chu) motivated him to “perfect [his] craft and become a better actor.” About a year after Crazy Rich Asians came out, Liu was cast as Shang-Chi in the MCU.
2.
Fellow Marvel actor Mark Ruffalo was given some similarly harsh feedback, except very early in his career. When he auditioned for SUNY Purchase’s acting program, the head of the department allegedly asked him, “What are you going to do when you realize you’ll never make it as an actor?” Ruffalo’s career has spanned several decades since, and he’s been nominated for three Oscars, including one for Foxcatcher.
3.
Gary Oldman was once told by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art that he “wasn’t an actor” and should consider another career. “Maybe I wasn’t ready, or maybe I just had a bad day?” he told Metro. “Maybe my audition wasn’t very good? But you can’t not enjoy the irony. I really wanted to go. That was my sort of dream because so many of the people I looked up to had been there.” Oldman is now an Oscar-winning actor with a long list of celebrated films under his belt, including Darkest Hour and Sid and Nancy.
4.
Sidney Poitier was told as a young man that he could never be an actor after he auditioned for the American Negro Theatre. Cofounder Frederick O’Neal apparently told him, “Stop wasting people’s time. Why don’t you go out and get yourself a job as a dishwasher or something? You can’t read, you can’t talk, you’re no actor!”
Poitier worked on getting rid of his accent, mimicking American actors, and expanding his vocabulary for six months, at which time he auditioned again and got into the program. Poitier went on to have a prolific career and was the first Black actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field.
5.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was similarly told he wouldn’t make it as an actor because of his accent. At the time he was a successful bodybuilder but was told by “the majority of people in Hollywood” that “it would never happen because of my accent, because of my body being overly developed, and because of my name — that [people] wouldn’t be able to pronounce.”
However, Schwarzenegger said he “did not listen to the naysayers and was just going after [his] vision.” He became a major movie star in the ’80s and ’90s with films like The Terminator.
6.
Winona Ryder struggled to find roles early in her career and was even once stopped mid-audition to be told she “should not be an actress” by the casting director. “You are not pretty enough,” the casting director said. “You should go back to wherever you came from, and you should go to school. You don’t have it.”
She quickly went on to find major fame as a teenager with lead roles in films like Beetlejuice and Heathers. She’s been nominated for two Oscars and three Golden Globes (one of which she won, for The Age of Innocence).
7.
A casting director once told Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney that she would never be on a TV show because she didn’t have the “right look.” Sweeney is now one of Hollywood’s biggest up-and-coming stars.
8.
As a kid, Bella Ramsey was once rejected for a role because they didn’t have the right “look” — aka the “Hollywood look.” Ramsey went on to steal hearts in Game of Thrones and The Last of Us and looks poised to become a major star.
9.
Similarly, a director once told Dame Judi Dench, “You’ll never make a film. You have the wrong face.” Dench was unconcerned, since she wanted to “go back to the theater.” Dench would go on to both return to the theater and have a long movie career and has been nominated for EIGHT Oscars — one of which she won (for Shakespeare in Love).
10.
And Sally Field was told in the early ’70s that she was “not pretty enough” and “not good enough” to make the transition from TV to film. By 1985, she was a movie star with two Oscar wins (for Norma Rae and Places in the Heart).
11.
Millie Bobby Brown was once left in tears after a casting director told her early in her career that she was “too mature” to make it in the industry. Soon after, she booked Stranger Things.
12.
Michelle Yeoh says that many people told her to retire as she got older and roles started to dry up. Yeoh said she replied, “No, guys. Do not tell me what to do. I should be in control of what I am capable of, right?” She soon landed the lead role in Everything Everywhere All at Once, winning an Oscar for her performance.
13.
Similarly, Naomi Watts was essentially warned that she would stop getting roles at age 40 because she would become “unfuckable.” She’s now in her 50s and has had a booming career, including being nominated for two Oscars (for 21 Grams and The Impossible).
14.
Salma Hayek was also told that she wouldn’t make it very far as an actor due to her age and ethnicity. “They told me my career would die mid-30s. First of all, they told me a Mexican is never going to make it because at the time, the new generations, it was impossible for a Mexican to have a leading role in Hollywood,” the Frida star said. “I was told so many times it couldn’t happen, and I almost believed them, but I fought it and I won.” She’s now an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actor — and her age never prevented her from becoming an international sex symbol.
15.
One of Adam Sandler’s NYU professors told him to consider a different career, saying, “Think about something else. Listen, you got heart, but you don’t have it. Choose another path.” He started working at Saturday Night Live just two years after graduating and had a booming movie career in the ’90s and 2000s. More recently, he garnered critical acclaim for his role in Uncut Gems.
16.
Gabourey Sidibe claims she was once told by Joan Cusack to leave Hollywood. “I met Joan Cusack, who is my favorite, favorite — I love her — but it was before I became [famous] or whatever. I was at some industry party, and she says, ‘Are you an actress?’ And I said, ‘Yeah!’ And she says, ‘Oh honey, you should really quit the business, it’s so image-conscious.’ I think she really, really meant it in a good way…but I was like, ‘Oh, please don’t tell me to quit my job!’” Sidibe later nabbed the lead role in Precious, for which she was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA.
17.
The head of Columbia Pictures allegedly once told Harrison Ford that he had “no future” in acting — so he became a carpenter, acting on the side, until he was cast in major hits like American Graffiti and Apocalypse Now. That, of course, led to his Star Wars stint, which made him a household name.
18.
While Tyler James Williams found success as a kid with Everybody Hates Chris, he was told that was the end of his career. A producer on the show allegedly told him, “I’ll never see you as anything else and you’ll probably never work again.”
Williams continued to have a steady career in TV post–Everybody Hates Chris and currently stars on beloved sitcom Abbott Elementary — for which he won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy.
19.
After being diagnosed with alopecia and getting to the point where he’d “lost pretty much half [of his] scalp, both [his] eyebrows, [and] all [his] eyelashes,” Barry actor Anthony Carrigan was warned that his career was over. “I was told by a number of people, ‘You’re not going to be able to do this. You’re not attractive anymore. You will fail if you try to do this,’” he said. However, he says this simply gave him more motivation. “I’m one of those people that if you told me that I can’t do something, I will. Period.” He’s since been nominated for multiple Emmy and SAG Awards for his work on Barry.
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