Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunn Reveals Another Actor Had "An Amazing Audition For Star-Lord"

By Jamie Jirak

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to go into production soon, and director James Gunn has teased that dozens of roles for the movie have been cast. Marvel fans are especially excited for Will Poulter to play Adam Warlock in the film. In addition to talking about some of the Vol. 3 casting, Gunn has also been sharing some stories about casting the first Guardians of the Galaxy. In fact, he recently revealed that John Gallagher Jr. had an "amazing audition" for Star-Lord, the role that ended up going to Chris Pratt. Gallagher Jr. is known for an array of projects ranging from Broadway's Spring Awakening to films such as 10 Cloverfield Lane and Short Term 12. While the actor may not have landed the role of Peter Quill, that audition did end up getting him a role in another film written by Gunn.

"Do you often keep those great performers in a mental note (or actual physical note) for later projects? Have you ever cast someone that didn't land a different part earlier in your career?," @AD_Strider asked Gunn on Twitter. "I do it a lot - @JohnGallagherJr did an amazing audition for Star-Lord, which he wasn't quite right for, but years later I cast him as the lead in #TheBelkoExperiment. And I raved about @ZacharyLevi's audition to Peter Safran, which is how he first got considered for Shazam," Gunn replied. He added, "Oh & @LochlynMunro auditioned for Shaggy in Scooby-Doo in like 2001 (he was our 2nd favorite after @MatthewLillard), which is how he got cast as the recurring Larry Fitzgibbon in #Peacemaker -- 20 years later! So always put your all into an audition!" You can check out the tweets below:



There's already been a lot of speculation about the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will likely mark Gunn's final movie within the franchise. Karen Gillan (Nebula) recently shared that the third installment of the Guardians trilogy is "so emotional" that when she read the script along with Pom Klementieff (Mantis), they were both in "floods of tears." Gunn has also hinted that there will be some major deaths in the upcoming movie, and many have guessed that Rocket will be the one to meet his end.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due to hit theaters on May 5, 2023. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is expected to be released in 2022. 

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