After more than a decade of playing Dr. Jo Wilson, Camilla Luddington is sharing some audition horror stories.
The Grey’s Anatomy star, 40, revealed a CW casting director rejected her because she was ‘not pretty enough’ while swapping stories with former co-star Jessica Capshaw.
‘I wanna know if you have ever—because I have a story—have ever lost a role based on your looks,’ she prefaced on their Call It What It Is podcast.
‘Because I, back in the day, auditioned for a CW show that I did not get and the casting director’s feedback was, I was not pretty enough for the CW,’ added Luddington.
She recalled, ‘You know what’s funny, I was like “What the f*** ever,” I was like “Whatever. Moving on.”
‘It honestly didn’t, like, I think because at that point I’d had so many no’s in my career I was like, “Joke’s on you, get in line with the rejection,”‘ Luddington said.
The British actress has gone on to portray Dr. Jo Wilson on Grey’s Anatomy since season 9 in 2012.
Capshaw, 47, responded, ‘Excuse you CW! Like, says who, first of all.’ She also shared a similar audition experience.
‘I actually very specifically lost a job early in my career because I wasn’t thin enough,’ Capshaw revealed.
‘And I remember I auditioned for it, it was like a rom-com, and it would have been a very big break for me,’ she explained.
‘And um, I really wanted it and I worked really really hard on it and I went in and auditioned,’ said Capshaw.
Capshaw noted the director was a ‘lovely guy’ who told her she was ‘fantastic’ and was his first choice for the film, but her manager had some news.
‘My manager said “OK, here’s the deal, you’re the pick, the head of the studio thinks that you need to be thinner. Like they, they just, they do,”‘ she recounted.
The actress said she was given between 10 days and two weeks to lose the weight.
‘Honestly, it was so ridiculous,’ said Capshaw. ‘The end of the story was, I was given those 10 days and I went in to meet the head of the studio and I don’t even know if it was because I wasn’t thin — I mustn’t have been thin enough, I didn’t get the job.
‘The irony was, the person that did, was actually quite well known in the business for having disordered eating, having issues with disordered eating … the standard of beauty was thin,’ she added.
Capshaw starred on Grey’s Anatomy as Arizona Roberts from 2009 to 2018, reprising the role this year on season 20.
In June, Capshaw and Luddington debuted their Call It What It Is podcast after becoming best friends during their overlapping times on the show.