15 Actors Who Left Such A Lasting Impression On Writers, They Ultimately Had Roles Created For Them
1.First, in Parks and Recreation, the role of April Ludgate didn't exist before Aubrey Plaza came in to audition. Allison Jones, who cast the show, called creator Michael Shur and said, "I just met the weirdest girl I've ever met in my life. You have to meet her and put her on your show." April was then written for Aubrey.
"Immediately I wanted to put her in the show," Michael began. "We didn’t totally know what we were going to do with her, we just thought it would be funny if Leslie had a college-aged intern who she wanted to inspire, and that that person would be Aubrey Plaza. Then after we established that relationship, we realized she had more range and is a more interesting performer than someone who just rolls her eyes."
2.In Bottoms, the role of Josie was written specifically for Ayo Edebiri by writers Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott. However, Ayo recalled being asked to audition. She said, "I'm still slightly salty about it. I don't know who made me audition, but I passed."
Emma added that Ayo had to do a chemistry read as a "box to check" for the studio so they could give their blessing for the onscreen chemistry between Ayo and Rachel. At the time, The Bear had not premiered, so on paper, it looked like Emma was taking a chance on a relatively unknown actor. "Her résumé was good, and it was already obvious that her career had so much promise," Emma recalled.
3.In Barbie, even before Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig approached Ryan Gosling about playing Ken, Greta wrote the role for him. She even wrote "Ken (Ryan Gosling)" in the script. Greta recalled, "I thought I was writing it for Ryan Gosling, even though I don't know Ryan and have never met him, but I imagined him in it."
Greta added, "When I say 'we wrote this for you,' I mean literally. It's not a line."
4.In Euphoria, creator Sam Levinson wrote Ali for Colman Domingo. Colman said he feels "incredibly blessed" because Ali has been a dream role. His work on the show earned him a 2022 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Speaking with Jacob Elordi during Variety's Actors on Actors, Colman explained, "I think the idea that Sam wrote Ali for me...I mean, I didn't think anybody was writing anything for me, and Sam was like, 'I see you, and I want to write towards what I believe you can do and how you can exist in a series.'"
5.In The Holiday, writer and director Nancy Meyers revealed she wrote the role of Iris with Kate Winslet in mind. At the time, Kate told Nancy that having a part written for her had never happened before.
In a joint interview in 2007, Nancy immediately told Kate, "That's not true. You probably just don't know it. There are scripts all over the world being written for you right now."
6.In Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Stephanie Beatriz originally auditioned for the role of Amy Santiago but was then asked to return for the role of Megan. Eventually, Megan turned into Rosa Diaz thanks to what Stephanie brought to the role. In particular, Rosa's coming out storyline was mainly inspired by Stephanie's own coming out journey.
Stephanie said she did screen tests for both Amy and Megan, and she felt "more comfortable" playing Megan. Speaking about having Rosa be bisexual, Stephanie said she went to the writer's room ready to float the idea, but they already "had it in their brains" to have Rose come out.
7.In The Shape of Water, writer and director Guillermo del Toro wrote the role of Elisa with Sally Hawkins in mind. He was so determined to have her star in the movie that while drunk at a Golden Globes afterparty in 2013, he spotted Sally and ran right up to her. Guillermo recalled, "It's the first time I see her. I say, 'Sally — Guillermo.' I hugged her. And I said, 'I'm writing a movie for you where you fall in love with a fish-man!'"
Guillermo said he first fell in love with Sally's work after seeing her in Happy-Go-Lucky in 2008. Sally's work in The Shape of Water earned her an Oscar nomination in 2018 for Best Actress. The movie also went on to win Best Director and Best Picture.
8.In Gilmore Girls, after initially auditioning for Rory Gilmore, Liza Weil had the role of Paris Geller created for her after the casting directors and creator Amy Sherman-Palladino loved her so much.
"The younger version of myself was really freaked out that that’s what they wrote,” Liza said when talking about how she was initially concerned that they immediately thought she could play someone so brash and competitive. She added, "I couldn’t fathom that they would think that they could do that! But now I think it’s really flattering, and I’m really glad."
9.In Fleabag, while creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge knew she wanted to explore religion "very, very early on," the priest character became who he was after she "imagined Andrew Scott in that role." By writing the "Hot" Priest for Andrew, Phoebe was able to make "this man complex and three-dimensional, and sort of a match for Fleabag."
"I called him up before I'd even written it to see if he'd be interested in doing it," Phoebe recalled. "I pitched him the idea because I think if he'd said no, I don't know if I would have actually been able to write that part."
10.In The Last Song, author Nicholas Sparks was beginning to work on a new story when he heard Miley Cyrus loved A Walk to Remember, and Disney producers were looking for a story in a similar vein for her to star in. While Nicholas had an idea for The Last Song previously, Miley's interest prompted him to focus "more intently on it" and create the character of Ronnie with her in mind.
Nicholas also wrote the screenplay for The Last Song. On his official website, Nicholas recalled presenting the story to Miley for the first time, writing, "By then, I was getting ready to head to Los Angeles for the media tour for the film, Nights in Rodanthe, and I spent time with both Jason [Reed] and Jennifer [Gipgot], and the Cyrus family. By then, I'd worked out all the major elements of the story, and I presented it to all of them. Fortunately, they liked the idea, and I agreed to write the screenplay first since they wanted to start filming in the summer of 2009."
11.In Anatomy of a Fall, director and cowriter Justine Triet wrote the leading role for Sandra Hüller, with whom she had previously worked with. She even named the character Sandra, hoping to convince the real Sandra to say yes to the movie. The role ultimately earned Sandra an Academy Award nomination.
Justine added, "When we wrote the script, we sent it to Sandra, and she had to take French lessons." Justine also won her first Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Anatomy of a Fall.
12.In Pulp Fiction, writer and director Quentin Tarantino created the role of Jules Winnfield for Samuel L. Jackson. After Samuel auditioned for Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino remembered him and said he was writing something for him. His work earned him an Academy Award nomination in 1995.
Samuel recalled running into Tarantino at Sundance before a screening of Reservoir Dogs and learning Tarantino was writing something for him. He said, "I'm writing something for you right now. And I was like, 'You remember me?' He's like, 'Yeah, man. I'm writing something for you right now; you're gonna get it soon.' And Pulp Fiction came in the mail two weeks later."
13.In The Walking Dead, Norman Reedus was so in love with the original pilot script he came in and read for Merle Dixon, even though the role had already been cast. Creator Frank Darabont reportedly loved Norman so much that he created the character of Daryl Dixon, who doesn't exist in Robert Kirkman's original comics.
By creating Daryl for him, Norman said he was given a lot of freedom when it came to the early days of The Walking Dead and creating the character. Norman was apparently the one who helped transform Daryl from the "rednecky and druggy" character in the early episodes to the leading role he became.
14.In Bridesmaids, Brynn reportedly didn't exist in the original script until Rebel Wilson came in and auditioned for Melissa McCarthy's character. While she didn't get that role, they added her in as Brynn. Rebel said, "There was never supposed to be two roommates, only one."
She continued, saying, "So I just kind of added myself in, in a way, to the scenes."
15.And finally, in Frasier, the original concept for the series did not include Frasier Crane having a brother. However, casting assistant Sheila Guthrie came across David Hyde Pierce's headshot and clips of The Powers That Be and suggested it to the creators. They looked at the footage and "fell in love with him." Thus, the character of Niles was created.
David recalled that when he was first approached about the series, little was known about who Niles was. He said, "All they knew about Niles was that instead of going to Harvard like Frasier, he had gone to Yale." At the time, NBC president Warren Littlefield loved David so much that he told the creators that if they could get David to play Niles, he would be "pre-approved."