KRISTEN STEWART AND ROBERT PATTINSON
Audition oddity Falling in love
Movie Twilight
The director of the first Twilight film, Catherine Hardwicke, has said there was immediate chemistry between on-and off-screen couple Pattinson and Stewart when they first met. Spilling that Robert came to audition for the role with Kristen - who had already been cast in the role of Bella Swan - Hardwicke revealed that the young actress "felt connected to Pattinson from the first moment." Adding, "They had that electricity, or love at first sight." The A-list pair kissed during that first audition, and Stewart urged the director to cast Rob, but Catherine first made the actor, 20, "swear" he wouldn't date the then 17-year-old actress, telling him, "You've got to focus, dude, or you're going to be arrested."
RUPERT GRINT
Audition oddity A rap tape
Movie Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
Already a fan of the Harry Potter books, an 11-year-old Rupert Grint sent in a tape for an open casting for the film adaptation of the wizard tale. And his 1999 tape certainly stood out, as Rupert, who always wanted to play Ron Weasley, dressed up as a girl and rapped about why he'd be great in the part.
MEL GIBSON
Audition oddity Turning up covered in bruises
Movie Mad Max
When a 23-year-old, New York-born Aussie called Mel Gibson walked into a Sydney audition room with a "face like a busted grapefruit" after coming second in a nasty bar fight the night before, he probably didn't think this would be the moment that launched his now flailing, but once unstoppable career. Gibson, now 56, and known for his anger management issues, was only interested in a career in the theatre, and just went along to the audition for iconic film Mad Max because his friend needed a ride. Producers then spied the rugged lad's stitches and bruises and told him, "we need freaks", deciding he'd be perfect for the part of Max Rockatansky in the dystopian film.
MEGAN FOX
Audition oddity Bikini car wash
Movie Transformers
When Megan Fox auditioned for 2007's Transformers she was an unknown with a lot to prove, which is why she said ‘yes' when director Michael Bay asked her to wash his Ferrari while wearing a bikini as he filmed her as part of her audition. It worked, she landed the role, and her star status soared as she became one of the most lusted-after women of 2008. But mum-to-be Megan's now said to be worried about where that tape is - Bay claims he doesn't know - as she famously fell out with the Transformers director after labelling him a "nightmare", and likening working with him to "being on set with Hitler".
MILEY CYRUS
Audition oddity Dressed up as Batgirl
Movie The Dark Knight
On the off-chance that the character of Batgirl would appear in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, Miley Cyrus is said to have turned up at Warner Studios to perform an "impromptu audition" for the part - which never existed in the first place - back in 2009. And she did all this while wearing a full Batgirl suit, with Hollywood- watchers saying it was "an effort to broaden her range and escape being typecast as Hannah Montana."
JESSICA BIEL
Audition oddity Blood-soaked reading
Movie The Notebook
"I was in the middle of shooting Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I auditioned with Ryan Gosling in my trailer - covered in blood," Jessica Biel explains of the time she read for beloved 2004 Rachel McAdams and Gosling romance, The Notebook. "That's the one I wanted so badly," she added of the role. "But there's a million that get away. It's just rejection."
ETHAN HAWKE
Audition oddity He got star struck
Movie Unknown Robert Redford film
With Training Day, Before Sunrise and Gataca on his movie resume, Ethan Hawke has established himself as one of the best character actors in Hollywood, but he does admit that he once messed up a very important audition - he won't say for which film - because he was in awe of the legendary director Robert Redford.
"I auditioned for him once and I was so star struck I couldn't even speak," he admitted. "I paced in a circle and then took a step and tripped and fell on my face!"
JANUARY JONES
Audition oddity Table-top dancing
Movie Coyote Ugly
She's now a retro fashion icon thanks to her role as Betty Draper in Mad Men, but back in 1999 January was a bit-part, B-grade TV actor, and had her heart set on a part in legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer's film, Coyote Ugly. Describing it as "one of the worst moments in my entire life", January revealed how she was asked to pole dance during the audition, saying, "I'd done the reading for the acting part and then Jerry wanted me to come in and dance… on top of the table." Adding, "They said, ‘You're going to dance to Prince's Kiss. You're going to pole dance, but there's no pole.' And I just turned beet red. It was awful. Jerry said something like, ‘Honey, you did a great reading, but you've got no rhythm.' I called my agent and said, ‘I don't want to do this any more'."
FELICITY HUFFMAN
Audition oddity Tissue paper-stuffed bra
Movie Unknown
The Desperate Housewives star, 49, recently admitted that at an audition early on in her career she was worried her natural assets weren't enough, and so stuffed her bra with toilet paper to enhance them. "I put on my dress and realised I just wasn't quite chesty enough," she spilled. "So I took toilet paper and stuffed my bra." Adding that when she leaned over to get her bag the paper fell out - "I had to pick up my ego and my toilet paper and walk out of the room."
Funniest audition tape leaks
Gerard Butler
Movie Dracula 2000
He got the part, yes, but this audition for the role of Count Dracula in the 2000 film feels more like a Funny Or Die video than a real casting. His hair's a highlight.
Chris Klein
Movie Mamma Mia
Get ready for what's likely to be the most awkward four minutes of your life, as American Pie star, Chris Klein, sings maniacally into the camera while auditioning for 2010's ABBA movie musical. The actor has since admitted that it was a "horrible audition".
Russell Brand
Movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall
In this audition, the casting director asks Russell to perform an off-the-cuff scene in which he has to convince a girlfriend to go horseback riding, causing the camera crew to get a serious case of the giggles. And yes, he got the part.
