23 TV Characters Almost Played By Different Actors

2.

Whitney Houston was cast as Sondra, the oldest daughter on The Cosby Show, but she didn’t end up signing the contract because she wanted to pursue a singing career.

5.

Sandra Oh was originally called in to audition for Dr. Miranda Bailey on Grey’s Anatomy, but she liked the part of Cristina more, so she asked if she could audition for that role instead.

6.

Keke Palmer screen-tested for the role of Iris on The Flash, but she didn’t end up getting it because she looked “a little too young” compared to Grant Gustin.

8.

Stephanie Beatriz screen-tested for Amy Santiago on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but Melissa Fumero was cast instead.

9.

Connie Britton was one of the network’s choices to play Olivia Pope in Scandal, but creator Shonda Rhimes insisted Olivia should be played by a Black woman instead.

10.

Taraji P. Henson was another famous person who went in to read for the role of Olivia Pope.

11.

Lucy Hale actually auditioned for Hannah Montana when she was 15 and still lived in Tennessee, which was years before Miley Cyrus eventually got cast.

12.

Darren Criss auditioned to play Finn Hudson on Glee, but the part went to Cory Monteith instead. Darren ended up joining the show in Season 2 as Blaine Anderson.

13.

Joshua Bassett was one of the final two choices for Harvey Kinkle in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, but the role ended up going to Ross Lynch.

15.

Mahershala Ali auditioned for the role of “a merchant who got locked in a safe on Season 3” of Game of Thrones, aka Xaro Xhoan Daxos, and he said it was one of the “worst auditions” of his life.

17.

Oliver Hudson was in the final running for Jack Pearson on This Is Us, but by the time he was scheduled to screen-test with Mandy Moore, Oliver went on an already-planned fishing trip instead.

18.

Sonequa Martin-Green auditioned for the part of Michonne on The Walking Dead, but the role ended up going to Danai Gurira. However, the producers loved her so much that they created the role of Sasha for her.

19.

Matt LeBlanc was offered the role of Phil Dunphy on Modern Family, but he felt like he wasn’t the best fit. The role went to Ty Burell instead.

20.

Wesley Snipes was originally approached to play Lucious Lyon on Empire, but Taraji P. Henson said she’d only star on the show if Terrence Howard was cast instead.

21.

Chris Colfer originally auditioned to play Artie Abrams on Glee, but that role went to Kevin McHale. However, Ryan Murphy loved Chris so much that he created the role of Kurt just for him.

22.

Rob Lowe was originally offered the role of Derek Shepherd on Grey’s Anatomy, but he turned down the role and it went to Patrick Dempsey instead.

23.

Madchen Amick was in the running for Gilmore Girls‘ Lorelai Gilmore, but she didn’t get the job because the network didn’t think she was old enough to play a mom.