“Yeah, you’re not getting this role”: Fede Alvarez Rejected Actor From Alien: Romulus Audition For Their Stupidest Response

The hype surrounding Alien: Romulus has been growing more and more as the release of the film approaches. Being the latest addition to the franchise and more grounded in its roots, it is safe to say that the film has become one of the most hyped from the series in years. One of the biggest contributing factors to this has to be its cast, featuring Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, and even Archie Renaux.

During a recent appearance, the director of the film, Fede Alvarez, talked about what the audition process was like for him. It would seem that some actors were immediately dismissed because of one confession.

Alien: Romulus Had Some Very Tough Auditions

Fede Alvarez recently made an appearance at the SDCC panel (via Discussing Film) for the promotion of the upcoming Alien: Romulus. Here, the director touched on the subject of auditions and even revealed one of the biggest reasons why several actors were rejected from being a part of the film.

During the auditions, Alvarez would frequently ask the actors how familiar they were with the Alien franchise. The question is quite standard for films coming from a franchise, and for the director, it seemed to be very important to know how much the actors knew about the film series. However, they would frequently answer that they were only familiar with two or three movies.

The actor said ‘Yeah the first two, Prometheus and Covenant’ and I said in my head ‘Yeah, you’re not getting this role’

While some would let that pass if the actor was a right fit, Alvarez was not such a director. He revealed that the moment he was told that the actor was not very familiar with the franchise, he would rule them out and move on to the next.

Just or Unjust?

Fede Alvarez’s approach is nothing new in Hollywood. Many directors have practiced similar boundaries when casting for their films. However, fans may argue that he was unjust by rejecting actors who had not seen the entire franchise. A lot of films and television shows have hired actors who have not seen multiple films or read multiple books to know every single detail of a story before getting into it.

While this may cause them to have less knowledge about a franchise as a whole, it stops them from being influenced by the pre-existing story and focuses on their performance rather than the grand scheme of things. At the same time, auditioning for a project that you have little to no idea when the film itself is influenced by all that came before it is a long shot at best.

Alvarez seemed to be looking for someone who understood the significance of what they were coming into. If an actor does not meet this bare minimum, it is perfectly fine for them to not be hired for the role.