At the SAG Awards on February 26, two-time winner Patricia Arquette, nominated with her cast of Severance, remembers the time she decided to “blew” a movie audition, which she thought had in the bag, as part of the 1996 film Jerry McGuire starring Tom Cruise.
Arquette told Entertainment Tonight in an interview, “I’m a notoriously bad auditioner,” the Oscar winner said. “So everyone was saying, ‘Oh, this is just a formality, you’re gonna read with Tom Cruise for Jerry Maguire, but this is your part, you got it,’ and I blew it.”
Written and directed by Cameron Crowe, the iconic film earned Cruise his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, gave outstanding standout to Cuba Gooding Jr, and brought Renée Zellweger to stardom.
Arquette believes Zellweger was the correct choice for the role. The actress also speaks out about her experience in the audition. “I’m a terrible auditioner ’cause I don’t feel like that’s finished work,” Arquette explained. “I wanna build layers with the character and with that other person and pivot and change according to how my character feels about them from take to take.”
Arquette also mentions auditioning for a role in The Doors with Brad Pitt as the leading actor Jim Morrison, and how he recently learned on a podcast that the casting director thought they were both “perfect.” The role of Arquette later went to Meg Ryan and the part of Pitt to Val Kilmer.
Arquette explains to Entertainment Tonight what it takes to be an actor. “There’s a lot you don’t know,” Arquette added. “As an actor, you gotta go in and do your best, take a chance, have fun, and you gotta let it go because it’s really out of your hands.”
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