Lying for the role

What is an actor capable of for the sake of a cherished role? To give up comfort, convenience, free time, personal life. And sometimes for actions that are questionable from the point of view of morality. For example, a lie. However, it is not always possible to call it some kind of terrible deception. So, some understatement or exaggeration, like manipulations with age.

Understating the age is a common thing, and not only in the movies. But overstatement? And this happens in the acting environment, if the role requires more sophisticated and experienced actors. So, for example, Sandra Bullock and Whoopi Goldberg got the roles at the very beginning of their careers, and then young Mila Kunis, who overestimated her age by as much as four years. But Carla Gugino at the trials in the “Beverly Hills Squad” reduced her age from 16 to 14 years. She managed to get what she wanted, but later the deception was still revealed.

Robert Pattinson did not receive interesting offers for a long time after filming Harry Potter. When at the next casting he was asked about the reasons for such a long break in his career, he lied that he was studying at Oxford at that time. He also contributed several little-known films to his resume. Needless to say, he didn't star in them!

Do you remember the funny episode from the cult TV series “Friends”, where Joey pretends to be a professional dancer in his attempts to get a job in a musical? For the hapless Tribbiani, it ended in a huge embarrassment. But in fact, actors quite often get roles by lying or exaggerating about their skills. For example, Liam Hemsworth convinced the casting producer of the drama “The Last Song" in the ability to play beach volleyball. No one began to check him, and after the start of filming it turned out that the young actor needed an understudy. But since there was no understudy with exactly the same parameters at hand, Hemsworth had to play himself in the company of professional volleyball players. Can you imagine how “epic” he looked among this team. 

And Chloe Grace Moretz lied to Martin Scorsese himself about being English. And only later admitted that her British accent appeared, thanks to several years spent in London. However, there is another version of events: allegedly, the director knew from the very beginning that they were trying to trick him, but the impudence of the young actress impressed him.

There are also much more prosperous stories, as, for example, with the actress Anne Hathaway - at the casting she said that she could ride a horse. After receiving the role, the actress immediately began taking riding lessons and looked quite decent in the end, although she fell off her horse once. A similar story happened with Rachel McAdams during the preparation of the film “To the Miracle”, as well as with Daniel Craig in “Cowboys vs. Aliens”.

Laura Fraser for the sake of participating in the series “Breaking Bad” lied that she speaks German. This was an indispensable condition on the part of the director. Immediately after receiving the role, the actress sat down for textbooks and was able to master the basics of a new language in the shortest possible time.

And finally, George Clooney's very unsuccessful attempt to deceive the Screen Actors Guild! Membership in this organization gives the right to participate in solid projects and castings, so it's worth trying for a tasty morsel. One problem: only those who starred in their films can apply for membership in the Guild. Clooney lied that he starred in the movie “Catwomen”, but he was quickly exposed - the casting director personally selected the actors for this project. However, the story ended with a happy ending: the same director helped him get a small role in the film “Predator". The project went unnoticed, but opened the doors to the coveted guild for Clooney.

Author - Nika Terentyeva