Hollywood is full of near miss casting stories in which a certain actor almost received a famous part. Jack Black almost played Hal Jordan in a Green Lantern movie, Bill Murray almost played Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton's Batman, and Tom Selleck almost played Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. These are classic "near miss" examples, but now it seems that Andrew Garfield has one of his very own. The former Spider-Man was apparently up for the role of Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia franchise, but he ended up not getting the role because he wasn't "handsome enough." Garfield explained:
Ben Barnes ultimately got it. Ben Barnes, I'll get ya! No, I really just wanted that part... I think the feedback was 'he's not handsome enough.' What can you do? Hey, I'm not handsome enough for Prince Caspian.
During a recent conversation with ET about his work on Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge, Andrew Garfield cracked a quick joke about losing the role of Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian to Ben Barnes. He was admittedly very excited about the prospect of getting cast as the titular character in the 2008 fantasy film, but he eventually lost the part on the grounds that he didn't have that Prince Caspian look -- a.k.a apparently not handsome enough.
Of course, we should all take the time to acknowledge the fact that the casting directors behind The Chronicles of Narnia definitely got it right. Ben Barnes IS a handsome man, and he definitely fit the bill to play Prince Caspian.
I don't care who you are; you have to admit that the man looks like a genuine prince.
Ultimately it doesn't seem like Andrew Garfield has any regrets about missing out on the role of Prince Caspian; he has gone on to experience his own insane successes over the course of the last few years, and we cannot wait to see what he does next. He is currently riding high on a Golden Globe nomination for his work in Hacksaw Ridge, and it's beginning to look increasingly likely that he may even garner an Oscar nomination as well. All things considered, not playing Prince Caspian probably ranks pretty low on his list of regrets.
What do you think of this story? Do you think Andrew Garfield would've made a good choice for Prince Caspian, or do you think Ben Barnes was the right pick for the role? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!
You can currently see Andrew Garfield in Martin Scorsese's Silence, which is now in theaters.
