Guardians of the Galaxy: Adam Brody Recalls Failed Star-Lord Audition

Former The OC star Adam Brody is telling the story of how he auditioned for the part of Star-Lord/Peter Quill in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – and clearly did not get the part. Brody has a new movie out with his wife Leighton Meester, Taran Killam and writer/director (and friend) Ben Ketai: a remake of the 1994 Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon and David Strathairn rafting trip thriller, River Wild. Before the Actors’ Strike, Brody spoke about the twists and turns in his career since the 2000s – including his would-be brush with Marvel fame. 

 “I wanted that one,” Brody said about Guardians of the Galaxy, before admitting that Chris Pratt was a “better fit. He is bigger, stronger, but tonally, I really dug it.” 

This would be the second big strikeout for Adam Brody in the superhero movie genre; the actor was part of DC and Mad Max creator George Miller’s now-infamous Justuce League movie, Justice League: Mortal, in the late-2000s. Brody was set to play Barry Allen/The Flash in that DC franchise starter, which fell apart early in production – ironically due in part the 2000s WGA Strike. It sounds like he missed his shot with Marvel just a few years after that. 

Ouch. 

Everybody Auditioned for Star-Lord

There have been numerous stories about the race to land the role of Star-Lord in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Shazam! star Zachary Levi has revealed he took a shot, and It’s Always Sunny star Glen Howerton came infamously close, making it to the final rounds of consideration alongside Pratt. 

Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum has explained his own failed audition to play Peter Quill, explaining that “I was nervous as sh*t. You’re sitting there with one of your best friends who’s directing a huge movie, who knows your ability and said, ‘I wanna see your take on Peter Quill.’ Now the pressure’s on… I didn’t know anything about the Guardians comics. I just wanted to do a good job for James.” 

For Rosenbaum, there was no disappointment, just the honor of being considered. “The way I look at it…I was privileged to be one of the few people that got to screen test,” the actor explained. “I was so honored and grateful that James had me audition.”

Ironically, Guardians of the Galaxy casting director Sarah Finn recently revealed that, originally, “[Chris] didn’t want to audition, and James [Gunn] didn’t want to see him.” However, both Gunn and Pratt have long since stated that when they finally did click, it was bond that would last a lifetime, and produce one of the greatest Marvel movie trilogies there is. 

Source: Variety Podcast