Mara Wilson

Posted on by Tony CrawleyCategories:Actors

  1. Lindsay Lohan, The Parent Trap, 1997.   Disney scoured Atlanta, Chicago, London, Miami, Vancouver and (natch) LA to loate the twins – or split-screened actress – to be  Hallie and Annie. Not made easier by director Nancy Meyers insisting on “a little Diane Keaton. Diane’s so alive on screen and that’s what I wanted.”In keeping with her parents’ rule that she only made “family-friendly” films, Mara auditioned –   only to be told she was too young at ten. Lohan was 11 and stole a day off school to audition – and win her first movie. Other contenders had included: Scarlett Johansson, Jena Malone (refused three times before Disney got the message) and  Michelle Trachtenberg (who shared the twins’ birthday, October 12). The twins were called Susan and Sharon when Hayley Mills played them in1961.

  2. Kristen Stewart, The Safety of Objects, 2000.  .   At 13, she gleefullty tested for  the androgynous Sam to start putting her kiddy star baggage into the left luggage office.

  3. Charlotte Arnold, The Safety of Objects, 2000.  She was later asked to read for Sam’s pal, Sally.  But again, the  five casting directors – and one dfozen producers! – and  could only see Matilda  before them.

  4. Daveigh Chase, Donnie Darko, 2000.    The script reached her at a bad time. She was ill in the UK and  “freaked out” over the story and refused to audition for the trouble Donnie’s sister, Samantha. Wilson quittingmovies.  “I don’t have any plans to pursue film acting. It’s not my “thing” anymore, if it ever was. Yes, I do still act sometimes…with people I know and trust, people who respect me as a person and appreciate what I have to offer. And no, you will not ever see me on Dancing With The Stars. Sorry.”

  5. Alia Shawkat, Arrested Development, TV, 2003-2013.   Ali was the frst actor signed after teenage Mara refused to test for Maeby.  She was studying at the Idyllwild Arts Academy, near Palm Springs and even  thinking retiring after her  kid star years  in Matilda, Mrs Doubtfireand the 1993 Miracle on 34th Street re-tread.     She did quit in 2000 – for 11 years.  She  does as much voice as on-camera work.  Arrested’s #1 fan, San Francisco Chronicle critic Tim Goodman called the Fox sitcom “pants-wettingly funny.”

 Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls:  5