“I have to tell you, I get it all day, every day, that I’m not sexy enough.”
Hollywood can be filled with criticism and judgment — and even the world’s most famous actors are all too familiar with facing rejection. Stars are turned down from roles for all kinds of reasons, from their appearance to their age.
Some celebs actually admit that they’ve been told they weren’t “sexy enough” for a part. These actors, both men and women, were informed they had to get sexier to be considered for the job. While some stars were eventually able to land the role, it definitely speaks volumes about the impossible beauty standards in Hollywood.
Find out what these stars were told…
1. Daniel Craig
Before Daniel Craig officially landed the role of James Bond, Casino Royale director Martin Campbell admits he had concerns that the actor wasn’t right for the role. Looking back, he says he worried that Daniel might not have been sexy enough for the part, compared to other actors who had previously played Bond.
“My only reticence with Daniel… he was really a superb actor, there’s no doubt about that. It was the fact that with people like Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan, they were all traditional-looking Bonds. All handsome guys, all sexy, all very attractive to women and so forth,” he told Express UK.
Martin continued, “Daniel was obviously tougher and rugged, but he wasn’t a traditional handsome guy. So I just thought about that for a minute and apart from that, absolutely it was always him.”
2. Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon almost missed out on her part in Legally Blonde because the studio didn’t believe she was sexy enough for the role. The actress explained that following her role in Election, the studio head thought she wasn’t the right fit.
“They thought I was a shrew. My manager finally called and said, ‘You’ve got to go meet with the studio head because he will not approve you. He thinks you really are your character from Election and that you’re repellent.’ And then I was told to dress sexy,” Reese told The Hollywood Reporter.
She continued, “And you’re 23, you have a baby at home, you need the money and you’re being told that by people who know what they’re doing. It’s funny to think of all the things we were told to do back then because now you’re thinking, ‘Oh God, if somebody told my daughter to do that, she’d be like, I really hope you’re joking.'”
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3. Maggie Gyllenhaal
Early in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s career, she says she was often told that she wasn’t sexy enough for the roles she auditioned for. Looking back on one movie in particular, Maggie says she tried her hardest to look sexy and was still turned down.
“When I was starting out, I used to hear ‘no’ a lot and still do. And, ‘You’re not sexy enough. You’re not pretty enough,'” Maggie told The Hollywood Reporter.
She continued, “When I was really young, I auditioned for this really bad movie with vampires. I wore a dress to the audition that I thought was really hot. Then I was told I wasn’t hot enough. My manager at the time said, ‘Would you go back and sex it up a little bit?’ So I put on leather pants, a pink leopard skinny camisole and did the audition again and still didn’t get the part. After that, I was like, ‘OK, f–k this!'”
4. Minnie Driver
When Minnie Driver auditioned for Good Will Hunting, she almost didn’t get the role because a producer allegedly thought she wasn’t “hot enough.” While Minnie did eventually get the part, she says it was hard to hear at the time.
“It was devastating. To be told at 26 that you’re not sexy, when you maybe just got over all your teenage angst and started to think, you know, ‘Maybe in the right light and the right shoes and the right dress, I’m alright,'” she told The Cut.
She later added, “I had such a lovely family going, ‘F–k that. You’re gorgeous on all these levels. And if one person doesn’t think that you’re pretty enough, f–k it.'”
5. Elle Fanning
Back when Elle Fanning was just 16, she says she auditioned for a father-daughter road trip comedy. She didn’t end up getting the part and later found out that she wasn’t cast because someone working on the project didn’t think she was sexy enough.
“This [comment] got to me. I was 16 years old and this person said, ‘Oh, she didn’t get the father-daughter road-trip comedy because she’s unf—able.’ It’s so disgusting. There are so many stories like this that I’ve heard and talked to people about. I laugh at it now, I’m like, ‘What a disgusting pig!'” Elle shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
6. Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez has always spread a message of self love and confidence to her young fans but admits she’s been criticized throughout her career. While talking to fans during a concert, Selena admitted that she’s often been told she’s not sexy enough.
“I have to tell you, I get it all day, every day, that I’m not sexy enough, or I’m not cool enough, or if I did this I would be accepted. Let me tell you one thing: the sexiest thing… is class. I promise you that each and every one of you is made to be who you are. That is what’s so attractive and beautiful. Please don’t forget that, even when it gets hard,” she said during a speech on stage.
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7. Kate Beckinsale
When Kate Beckinsale auditioned for Pearl Harbor, she says director Michael Bay was reluctant to cast her because she wasn’t hot enough. Kate ended up getting the role and says she thankfully wasn’t offended by the whole thing.
“I think he was very alarmed because I wasn’t blonde and my boobs weren’t bigger than my head, I didn’t make sense to him as an attractive woman. So there was a lot of panic and concern over, ‘How on earth are we gonna make her attractive?’ You’d think you’d take that really personally, but I sort of managed not to. It’s so extreme I kind of didn’t,” Kate said.
8. Sally Field
Back in the 1970s, Sally Field auditioned for Smokey and the Bandit alongside Burt Reynolds. While she did get the role, Burt later said that he had to fight for her to get the part because the filmmakers didn’t think she was sexy enough.
“I wanted her really bad, but the filmmakers said, ‘Well, she’s not sexy.’ And I said, ‘You don’t get it, talent is sexy.’ And she’s got that,” Burt said on the Today show before his passing.
9. Sarah Jessica Parker
In 2007, Maxim ranked Sarah Jessica Parker as the “unsexiest woman alive.” While the voting wasn’t done by people in the entertainment industry, she says hearing the news was incredibly hurtful to both her and her family.
“Do I have big fake boobs, Botox and big lips? No. Do I fit some ideals and standards of some men writing in a men’s magazine? Maybe not. Am I really the unsexiest woman in the world? Wow! It’s insane. It’s so brutal in a way, so filled with rage and anger. What can I do? I guess you can’t please all people,” she reportedly told Grazia.
