Blake Lively became a household name when she starred in Gossip Girl. Just like her on-screen character, the actress became an It Girl, garnering thousands of fans for her role. However, before she was Serena van der Woodsen, the actress almost starred in Robin Williams’ most memorable movie.
Had the actress not tanked her audition with the Hollywood legend in his blockbuster movie Mrs Doubtfire, we could have witnessed a whole different career path for Lively and she might even have not starred in Gossip Girl.
Blake Lively Could Have Starred With Robin Williams
Robin Williams‘ Mrs Doubtfire remains one of his most iconic and memorable movies, which continues to amaze and engage viewers years after its release. The casting couldn’t have been more perfect, and Mara Wilson‘s portrayal of Natalie Hillard, the youngest daughter of Robin’s character was the most heartwarming thing and instrumental in setting the tone of the movie.
However, a very different picture could have come about as the Gossip Girl star, Blake Lively was in line to play Natalie Hillard. Lively was just five years old back then and had made it to the final round of the audition. But her love for Robin Williams ultimately made her mess it up.
The actress was a big fan of Williams and was told by her father that she would be doing a script reading against Robin Williams’ ‘twin brother’. However, the plan failed when the actor was introduced to her as ‘Robin’. Extremely nervous and starstruck, the actress totally blew the audition and even later described it as a ‘horrible’ experience (via Mental Floss).
While Wilson certainly did an excellent job, it would have been interesting to see a young Blake Lively star alongside Robin Williams.
Blake Lively Got Cast In Gossip Girl Because Of Her Brother
Blake Lively had no dreams of becoming a Hollywood actor. However when she was 15, her older brother took her around Europe, hoping to make her more ‘cultured’ (via RadioFree).
“In the middle of my sophomore year, he decided that I needed to be more cultured and took me around Europe for two months, while I was taking world history.”
He then asked her what she really wanted to do in life,
“And he sat me down when we were in Europe and said, ‘What are you going to do with your life?’ I’m 15 at the time… And I didn’t want to make him mad because he’s such a good brother, so I just went on auditions to appease him. And then after a few months of auditioning, I got Sisterhood.”
Fortunately for her, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants gave her a major breakthrough and immense success. Her role in the series eventually caught the likes of the Gossip Girl casting director who cast her for being the ultimate It Girl (via Vogue).
Gossip Girl can be streamed on Netflix, while Mrs Doubtfire is available to stream on Disney+.
