Most of us have applied for at least one dream job, only for it to be offered to someone else. But sometimes the story doesn't end with the job offer; in fact, we might get another chance at that job or even something better.
And according to Veronica Mars actor Jonathan Bennett, this concept can be applied to acting gigs, as well.
Before anyone knew who he was, and he was still working at Abercrombie & Fitch folding shirts and sweaters, he tried his luck at getting the part of lead guy Aaron Samuels in the iconic Mean Girls, which would become his big breakout role.
Though Mean Girls is what he's still most known for today, he almost didn't get the part!
During a Hallmark panel event, Bennett explained to the audience in a "Cliffnotes edition" that when he'd gone in to audition, he made Lyndsey Lohan, who had already been cast as the lead in the movie, blush at the perfect moment. The director, crew, and his casting agent believed he would get the part.
However, the studio ended up going in a different direction, because the then-president of Paramount Pictures, Sherry Lansing, wanted him to have a different look. Another guy who had auditioned had the look already without doing hair and makeup, the blonde hair and blue eyes that were so popular in the '90s and early 2000s, so Lansing demanded they go with the other guy.
Fortunately, the story didn't end there for Jonathan Bennett. Asking about October third was still in his future.
Bennett went on to explain that when the other actor went to Canada to table-read his part, he showed up in "baggy sweatpants and a baggy hoodie," he didn't know who the more prominent people in the room were, and he didn't attempt to slip into his role.
Instead, he mumbled his way through it.
Two actors on set, Tim Meadows and Lorne Michaels, who were both well-known for Saturday Night Live, were also used to clean and precise table-reads that would give everyone at the table a good sense of what they would get from each performer in front of the camera. Based on the table-read, all they would get from this guy was "mumbling," even after feedback about it.
Cringing, Bennett admitted that the other guy was "fired by the time he got back to his car."
Then laughing, Bennett explained that he was working a shift at Abercrombie & Fitch when his casting agent tried to call him. When he finally answered on a fifteen-minute break and was told he had a second shot at the part, he was excited but said he had to get back to work and hung up the phone.
Calling back, the agent yelled at him and said he didn't have a shift; he had a plane to catch. So Bennett walked out on Abercrombie & Fitch on the spot, caught the flight, and stepped into the role that would change his life.
You can watch the video here:
Some were distracted, wondering who originally fumbled the role.
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
Other viewers couldn't get past Bennett's amusing and questionable concept of a "Cliffnotes version."
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
@bahamasholly/TikTok
This story is a great reminder that things can still work out, even when they seem to have already been decided.
Since Bennett also said that the other guy is "famous now," that reminds us, too, that we can always improve to match the opportunities we want to receive.
@LeeMerrittesq/X
@bob_moss/X
@jelanijones/Bluesky
@Aurkayne/X
@sadcommunistdog; @froglok/Bluesky