Amanda Seyfried may have turned down the role of Gamora because she thought the movie would bomb at the box office, but countless actors threw their hat into the ring to play Star-Lord in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
Chris Pratt was always the director’s preferred candidate to lead the Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, but if he couldn’t get out of his Parks and Recreation contract to shoot the film, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Glenn Howerton was next in line.
Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston and Eddie Redmayne all tested for the part, as did Lee Pace, who ended up playing Ronan the Accuser. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zachary Levi and Michael Rosenbaum were also considered, but in a social media exchange with a fan, Gunn named another contender who gave a fantastic audition that kept his name in the back of the filmmaker’s mind and ultimately saw him hired for another project.
Gunn is known for gathering a regular troupe of creative collaborators for many of his film and television efforts, with Michael Rooker and Nathan Fillion the most notable, but it just goes to show that even if you’re not the right fit for one character, if you make an impression you can always end up snagging a job on something completely different down the line.