Well, you win some and you lose some - Marvel’s Elizabeth Olsen apparently is all too familiar with this because she lost out on one major gig 10 years ago ahead of starring in the MCU. The WandaVision star recently revealed that she actually auditioned for a major part in Game of Thrones, but it really did not go well.
Everything certainly happens for a reason as Elizabeth Olsen now has a killer role in the MCU, and it’s possible that may not be where she is now if she had secured the major role playing Khaleesi in Game of Thrones. She really doesn't need to look back with too much regret, though, because in an interview with THR's Awards Chatter, Olsen says that her audition for the role was pretty awful.
Yes, I auditioned for Game of Thrones. I auditioned for, like, the assistant to the casting director in a small room in New York with just a camera on me and them reading the script. And I was doing the Khaleesi speech when she comes out of the fire. It was awful.
Elizabeth Olsen explains that her life was in a place of intense anxiety at the time, which could definitely explain why her audition didn’t go very well. The actress says that her very brief time with Game of Thrones' dialogue was her least favorite audition experience, even though she generally enjoys auditions. She recalls in her own words:
Was not ‘gonna be’ [Khaleesi]. I was part of the first round of auditions. I didn’t get a callback. It was awful. I think that story came up [once before] because someone said, ‘What was your least favorite audition experience?’ I, like I said, enjoy auditions, somehow my brain was like, ‘Hey you auditioned for Game of Thrones. That was horrible.’ That was the first time I said it.
It’s hard to imagine famous roles played by anyone other than the actor or actress who did end up with the part, but I honestly could see the Scarlet Witch as the Khaleesi. It’s important to remember, though, that Game of Thrones premiered 10 years ago, so it’s very fair to say that Elizabeth Olsen was a completely different person at a completely different professional level back then.
In fact, 10 years ago Elizabeth Olsen was not the Scarlet Witch. She had only a few films under her belt and most came out the same year as the Game of Thrones premiere in 2011. It’s worth noting, though, that Emilia Clarke, who did end up getting the role (and was almost in the MCU herself), was also a fresh face in Hollywood, only having a few projects on her resume before landing Game of Thrones. Both have since gone on to see their careers flourish.
While the cast of Game of Thrones are all certainly better off for having been a part of the popular series, Elizabeth Olsen isn’t worse off for not having nailed the audition. Being a part of the MCU is pretty huge, and it would look like she’s not near the end of her Marvel career. Olsen recently starred in the first Disney+ Marvel series WandaVision and she will be returning to the big screen as The Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in the not-too-distant future.
