Andrew Garfield revealed that he was very close to being cast in a film franchise that is based on a popular book series but was turned over over his less attractiveness.
“I remember I was desperate,” Garfield recalled in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight when asked about a setback in his career. “When I auditioned for the role of Prince Caspian in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia,’ I thought to myself, ‘This could be it, this could be it.’ And it was the attractive, intelligent actor Ben Barnes who got the part.”
Garfield stated he kept asking himself, “Why not me?” and urged his agent to tell him the truth about why he didn’t win the part.
“She ultimately just gave in to my pestering and said, ‘It’s because they don’t think you’re gorgeous enough, Andrew,'” the actor recounted.
The first “Narnia” film was produced in 2005, and it was inspired by C. S. Lewis’s fantasy story about four brothers who reach a magical country via a wardrobe.
The 2008 sequel, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” centers on the eponymous prince teaming up with the Pevensie brothers to topple a terrible monarch.
Barnes, who is now recognized for his appearances on “Westworld” and “Shadow and Bone,” played Prince Caspian in the 2008 film and its sequel, two years later, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” was released.
Despite not being cast as Prince Caspian, Garfield garnered favorable reviews for his appearances in the films “Boy A” and “Lions for Lambs.”
His breakout performance as Facebook pioneer Eduardo Saverin in 2010’s “The Social Network,” with Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, won him his first Golden Globe award for best supporting actor in a motion picture.
Garfield went on to win an Academy Award for best actor in a significant role for his depiction of a WWII medic in “Hacksaw Ridge,” as well as a Tony Award for his main performance in the Broadway show “Angels in America.”
He was praised for his performance as Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” and he just received a Golden Globe for his depiction of late “Rent” composer and writer Jonathan Larson in “Tick, Tick… Boom!”
