Ah, Gilmore Girls, you really are a treasure trove of the pre-famous actor. As well as playing host to the likes of Jon Hamm, Rami Malek and Seth MacFarlane, there's one name who almost was going to be a major feature in Stars Hollow - Ryan Gosling.
According to casting director Jami Rudofsky who spoke at a recent fan event for the series, Gosling was brought into audition for an unspecified role and was her first choice. As Rudofsky describes it, Gosling gave "one of the most amazing auditions, to this day, I've ever seen."
She went on, explaining that Gosling was called back for a second audition with showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino and casting director Mara Casey, but turned up late and had a bit of an attitude. Why? Because, as she only realised after, he was staying in character.
"I was so proud of myself, I was like “I found a star you guys!”... and he auditioned, and it kinda fell flat. And both Amy and Mara Casey were like, “Really, Jami?”‘
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Gosling, as we know, didn't turn up in Gilmore Girls and pretty much ended his TV career at Young Hercules. As it turns out, maybe mucking up his audition was the best thing for him.Gosling went on to star in The Notebook in 2004 and Half Nelson in 2006, two films that launched his film career and marked him out as an actor to watch.
There would have been little chance of him doing those films if he was hanging around outside Doose's Market or shifting the face off Rory Gilmore, so it all worked out in the end.