10 Male Actors Who Were Told They Weren't Attractive Enough for Hollywood

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Not attractive enough? Really? Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the actors who became successful despite being told they didn’t look like movie stars.

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00:00Who's there?
00:01Who?
00:02That man looking at us and smiling.
00:04The nasty dog.
00:05My dear, don't you know?
00:07That's Red Butler.
00:08He's from Charleston.
00:09Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:13for the actors who became successful despite being told
00:16they didn't look like movie stars.
00:19This sympathy is wonderful.
00:20Where were you when I was eight years old?
00:25Benedict Cumberbatch.
00:26The name's Sherlock Holmes, and the address is 221B Baker Street.
00:31Although he didn't get his start in Hollywood,
00:33the Sherlock actor was catapulted to movie stardom
00:36based on his turn as the brilliant Arthur Conan Doyle detective.
00:40However, writer and co-creator Mark Gatiss
00:43revealed that Benedict Cumberbatch was almost passed up for the role based on his looks.
00:48Some people said I look a bit like a hammerhead shark.
00:51Ha ha, yeah, yeah.
00:52Or, you know, a lizard man.
00:54Also great.
00:55And I sort of think I look a little bit like Sid the Sloth from my stage.
00:58Totally, you do.
00:59BBC execs were picking apart the actor's physical features behind the scenes.
01:04It was only after the chemistry read that they were convinced he was right for the part.
01:09Thousands of fans who developed a crush on Cumberbatch as a result
01:13would like to have a word or two with those British bigwigs.
01:16Hey, does my answer have to be in English?
01:18Why?
01:19Because my feelings would be best described using a series of noises,
01:23sort of like, ha ha ha.
01:24Ooh, ooh.
01:27No.
01:28Michael J. Fox
01:30Look Alex, I think I better explain something to you.
01:32Look, okay, you don't have to draw me a picture.
01:35I think I know what's going on here.
01:36NBC executive Brandon Tarticoff had two notes for Family Ties producers.
01:42Their choice for the role of Alex P. Keaton,
01:45the young Republican son of two former hippies,
01:47wouldn't work for two reasons.
01:49One, he was too short.
01:51And two, Tartikoff couldn't see someone with Michael J. Fox's face selling merchandise,
01:57namely lunchboxes.
01:59I won't stand for this.
02:02This is a travesty.
02:04This is a sin against capitalism.
02:06Fox was a runaway success on the show.
02:08He parlayed that TV fame into feature film stardom with the Back to the Future series.
02:13There was apparently no bad blood between the executive and the actor,
02:17as Fox would later give Tartikoff a lunchbox with his face on it.
02:22I can't guess you guys aren't ready for that yet.
02:26But your kids are gonna love it.
02:28Fred Astaire
02:28I'd like to try this thing just once.
02:32Come on, honey.
02:34We'll show him a thing or three.
02:35Whether or not he was paired with Ginger Rogers,
02:38Fred Astaire was one of the great dancers of classic Hollywood.
02:41His footwork was matched only by his slick charm and charisma.
02:45But a screen test at RKO didn't go so well.
02:48Charming little spot you have here.
02:50When does the concert start?
02:54Just as soon as you and the rain stop.
02:56Although the story passed into legend,
02:58Astaire later said one studio representative passed on him because he was balding.
03:03In one of the understatements of the century,
03:06the executive also said Astaire could, quote,
03:08"...dance a little."
03:10He would later go on to make several successful movies for the studio,
03:13and became the standard bearer for sophisticated leading men of the 1930s.
03:29Clint Eastwood
03:30All right, let's have it.
03:34Have what?
03:35The report. What have you been doing?
03:36The Dirty Harry star's rugged looks and callous attitude
03:39helped redefine masculinity in the 1960s and 70s.
03:44The rough-voiced, squinting hero of mid-century westerns
03:47made much of his early career in TV westerns for Universal.
03:51When the studio ended his contract in the 1950s,
03:54the story goes it was because of his looks.
03:57Robbie, why don't you go out and sing?
04:01Yeah.
04:02Have you lost your mind or something?
04:03I can't sing, though.
04:04Well, yeah, just sing like you do to the beeves.
04:06That's good enough.
04:08Look, boys, those are cattle.
04:09These are people out here, and they got guns.
04:11Apparently, the studio had grown tired of him,
04:14as he had a chipped tooth he wouldn't fix,
04:16and an Adam's apple that was too big.
04:19That's the story according to fellow actor and friend Burt Reynolds,
04:23who was fired around the same time.
04:25We're walking to his truck, you know, afterwards,
04:28and I said, you know, you're in a hell of a lot of trouble.
04:32And he said, why?
04:33And I said, I can learn to act.
04:35You'll never get rid of that Adam's apple.
04:37Adam Driver
04:39Okay, that's Adam.
04:40He does sort of look like the original man.
04:43No, like my Adam, like Adam Adam.
04:45Rising to fame playing the eccentric and passionate boyfriend
04:48of the lead on HBO's Girls,
04:50Adam Driver's brooding and stoic face had made him at home in a variety of roles.
04:56His talent has made him a favorite of directors
04:59like Martin Scorsese and Noah Baumbach.
05:01However, his distinctive look has been pointed out by many,
05:04even in interviews.
05:06You always made me aware of what I was doing wrong,
05:08how I was falling short.
05:10Life with you was joyless.
05:12During a 2023 appearance on Who's Talking to Chris Wallace,
05:15the host asked Driver if he struggled
05:18because he doesn't look like a typical movie star.
05:20While Driver handled the question with grace,
05:23Wallace's line of questioning earned criticism on the internet.
05:26I've worked consistently,
05:28which is nice with people that I've wanted to,
05:30always dreamed that I wanted to work with.
05:32And I, so in that sense, it hasn't,
05:35I look how I look, I can't change that.
05:38So I guess it helped me.
05:40Dustin Hoffman.
05:41It's like I've been playing some kind of game,
05:43but the rules don't make any sense to me.
05:46They're being made up by all the wrong people.
05:49No, I mean, no one makes them up.
05:52They seem to make themselves up.
05:54The 1967 existentialist comedy The Graduate
05:57signaled a change in the culture and the way movies were made.
06:01Much of that change had to do with its leading actor.
06:04I wanted to be...
06:07To be what?
06:11Different.
06:12There were a lot of people dunking on Dustin Hoffman's height
06:15and looks at the time.
06:17A Life magazine writer was quoted as saying
06:19Hoffman's face had nothing to do with his onscreen appeal.
06:22Even his own aunt said he wasn't handsome enough to be in the movies.
06:26Although his physical type wasn't traditionally seen on the screen,
06:30he helped usher in a new era.
06:32I was going to go upstairs for a minute.
06:34I meant with your future.
06:36You're lying.
06:37Well, that's a little hard to say.
06:39Andrew Garfield
06:40I break up with you.
06:44I break up with you.
06:48Rejection is hard enough,
06:49but before he was an Academy Award-nominated,
06:52Spider-Man-playing leading man,
06:54Andrew Garfield lost out on a major role for one reason.
06:57Producers of the Chronicles of Narnia series
07:00didn't believe he was handsome enough to play the noble Prince Caspian.
07:03What can you do?
07:04Hey, I'm not handsome enough for Prince Caspian.
07:06That was when I was just dying out, so I was like,
07:08my God, Narnia, I love Narnia.
07:09The part went to Ben Barnes instead.
07:12Millions would disagree with those producers' assessment.
07:15The idea that Garfield wasn't handsome enough seems silly now.
07:18He's since gone on to play the dreamy romantic lead in dozens of movies.
07:22His looks, charm, and charisma have made him a favorite of fans and filmmakers alike.
07:27I can't believe Andrew Garfield invented being sexy.
07:30I find it hard to believe to the point of knowing that it's not true.
07:35Donald Sutherland.
07:36This Canadian actor had gravitas and the distinction of being in films
07:41directed by some of the greatest directors of all time.
07:44But his entire career, he believed he was unattractive.
07:47They did call me Dumbo and Goofus because I have these ears that are really large,
07:53and when my head was smaller, my ears were still the same size.
07:56In his early life, he was made fun of for the size of his ears and his stature.
08:00In an interview with Anderson Cooper,
08:02he recalled his mother's frank assessment of his looks as a teenager.
08:07Your face has character, Donald, and I went and hid in my room for at least a day.
08:13Her honesty haunted him throughout his life.
08:16From then on, he believed he found success in spite of his physical attributes.
08:21Luckily, it didn't stop him from becoming an incredible screen presence.
08:25Particular savvy in that, isn't there?
08:27Robert Pattinson.
08:29That's Edward Cullen. He's totally gorgeous,
08:32obviously, but apparently nobody here is good enough for him.
08:37Released at the height of the vampire craze of the late 2000s,
08:41the Twilight series was a mega-hit that launched its trio of stars to great heights.
08:46However, the part of the handsome, glittering vampire Edward Cullen
08:49was hard-fought for star Robert Pattinson.
08:52The hairstyle, the eyebrows, even the teeth,
08:55he started working out, you know, and worked with a trainer.
08:59He put a lot of effort and, you know, beautiful effort into it.
09:02Director Catherine Hardwicke said the English actor
09:05made the producers of the first movie nervous.
09:08They worried he wasn't good-looking enough to carry the series,
09:11let alone win the hearts of millions of fans
09:13who had fallen in love with this character on the page.
09:16Given his immediate stardom and career since Twilight ended,
09:19it's safe to say there was nothing to worry about.
09:22It's like diamonds.
09:33You're beautiful.
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09:50Clark Gable.
09:52In the 1930s, he rose to the top of the classic Hollywood star system.
09:57From his strong features to his large ears,
09:59Clark Gable filled up the screen with his masculine bravado.
10:03At the start of his career, though, his trademark features were his hindrances.
10:08You know, I wouldn't offend you for the world.
10:13You haven't offended me.
10:16I just want to do a little thinking.
10:20Studio heavyweight Daryl F. Zanuck was unimpressed with Gable's screen test.
10:24He didn't just go after the actor's ears.
10:27He was on record likening Gable to an ape.
10:30Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
10:32Swooning audiences sitting in the cinemas during movies like
10:35It Happened One Night and Gone With the Wind would beg to differ.
10:39Gable became the dashing template for male stars of the post-silent era.
10:43No, I have a method all my own.
10:46If you'll notice, the coat came first, then the tie, then the shirt.
10:50Which of these actors were you most surprised to see on this list?
10:54Sound off in the comments below.
10:55Andrew Garfield's spandex-clad buttocks should be legally obliged
11:00to appear in all superhero movies from now on.
11:03I wonder what my fee would be.
11:04Do you agree with our picks?
11:06Check out this other recent clip from MsMojo,
11:08and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.

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