6 Actors Who Auditioned For ‘Hero’ But Were Cast As ‘Villain’

It is not easy to get a foot in Tinseltown because it takes seconds to change roles. It is not easy to crack audition and if one does, then there is no way you will always get your desired role. There are several actors in the industry who were up for the role of hero in movies before they stepped out of their home, all dressed like one. But, there is something called luck and one does not know when it turns the career to a very different road. We bring you five actors who were auditioned and screen-tested for their respective parts in the movies. However, they didn’t get the role they initially wanted. Check out the actors who auditioned for the role of hero but were cast as the villain.

1. Tom Hiddleston from Thor(2011)

The English actor initially auditioned for Thor, but Chris Hemsworth beat all the all actors including his brother Liam Hemsworth and was hand the hammer. In a report by Geeky Tyrant, director Craig Kyle said:

“At first Tom came in for Thor. He trained. He came in. He was ripped. He did a tremendous job, but he wasn’t Thor.”

2. Sam Rockwell from Iron Man 2 (2010)

The American actor Sam Rockwell played one of the villains in Iron Man 2. He appeared as Justin Hammer in the film but was up for the role of Tony Stark. LA Ties reported the director Jon Favreau, saying,

“He was one of the actors I was looking at for Tony Stark. There were some things he would bring to the role that would have been great. Sam is very charismatic and when I was looking at the character there was a list and he had a spot on it, which might have surprised some people. Robert surprised some people, too, though, and now he is Tony Stark, he owns that role. Sam would have come up with interesting and different things.”

3. Cillian Murphy from Batman Begins (2005)

The Irish actor, Lilian Murphy, was actually upper the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman but was cast as the Jonathan Crane(Scarecrow) in the Dark Knight Trilogy. Check out what Christopher Nolan said about Murphy’s audition in a report by Geeky Tyrant.

“We also had Cillian Murphy screen-test for Batman. He wasn’t right for that part in the way that Christian was. But the performance was incredible and everybody took huge notice of it while we were shooting it and while we watched the tests. I then was able to go to the studio and ask to put him in as Crane, as Scarecrow.”

4. James Franco from Spider-Man (2002)

The American actor and filmmaker, Jame Franco, played Harry Osborne in the 2002 Spider-Man movie. But he initially auditioned for Peter Parker, dubbed as Spider-Man, which was later played by Tobey Maguire.

5. Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight (2008)

The comic book world owes a lot to Heath Ledger, the one who played the most iconic role of Joker and totally nailed it. He bagged an Oscar award for Best Supporting Actor. And it was the first Oscar that a comic book movie ever won. Initially, Ledger was not ready to play the role but then he stepped up to it and then rest is the history. Before he was signed as the Joker in The Dark Knight, Ledger was approached for the lead role of Batman but was refused by the director.

6. Lee Pace from Guardians of the Galaxy(2014)

Before Lee Pace appeared as Ronan The Accuser, where he was seen choking Drax the Destroyer in the film. Before he was signed as the main antagonist in the film, he along with other actors auditioned for the role of Peter Quill, also dubbed as Star-Lord.