Today, Andrew Garfield is every inch the leading man, but that wasn't always the case.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the Spider-Man, The Social Network and Tick, Tick... Boom! actor revealed that at the beginning of his career he missed out on a part because (and we find this hard to believe) he wasn't "handsome enough".
Speaking about his rejection, Garfield said: "I remember I was so desperate. I auditioned for Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia and I thought, 'This could be it, this could be it'.
"And that handsome, brilliant actor Ben Barnes ended up getting the role. I think it was down to me and him, and I remember I was obsessed."
Garfield said he found out when he spoke with his agent about the part. Initially she simply said he wasn't the right fit, but, Garfield recalls, "She eventually just broke under my incessant nagging and she was, like, 'It’s because they don’t think you’re handsome enough, Andrew'.
"Ben Barnes is a very handsome, talented man, so in retrospect, I’m not unhappy with the decision and I think he did a beautiful job."
Thankfully, Garfield didn't let the snub hold him back, and now he's a Golden Globe award winning actor, having picked up the best actor gong for his role in Tick, Tick…Boom! Later this year he'll likely pick up, at the very least, an Oscar nomination too.
So we're sure somebody, somewhere is wishing they'd cast him as Prince Caspian now.
Daniel is Men’s Health UK’s deputy digital editor. He’s a writer and editor with a decade’s worth of experience covering health, fitness, tech and sports. In his time at Men’s Health, he’s written about everything from Black men's mental health to The Rock's cheat days and has logged training time with NFL footballers, Olympic gymnasts and the British Army. In his spare time he enjoys fitness of all kinds, from deadlifts to long runs, and is always on the lookout for his next challenge.
