- Annette Bening, Valmont, 1988. MGH read for the wicked Madame Merteuil in Milos Forman’s version of the French classic, Les Liaisons Dangereuses… which Stephen Frears was also shooting in various French chateaux in that summer of ’88 (I was on his set for weeks). Frears’ Merteuil was a rather better Glenn Close – among the film’s seven Oscar nominations.
- Crystal Bernard, Wings, TV, 1990-1997. Marcia Cross, Lisa Darr, Gina Gershon, Peri Gilpin, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Megan Mullally, Julianne Moore, Rita Wilson also auditioned for Helen… who finally wed Tim Daly’s Joe at the end of the sixth season and 172 episodes.
- Daphne Ashbrook, Doctor Who (The Movie), TV, 1996.
- Aida Turturro, The Sopranos, TV, 2000-2007.
- Juliana Marguiles, City Island, 2008. First, Michelle Pfeiffer, then MGH were both impressed by New York auteur Raymond De Felitta’s script but passed on Andy Garcia’s wife, Joyce, in the tale of the Rizzos, a family who never shared habits, aspirations, and careers with each other.
- Bonnie Sommerville, Code Black, TV, 2015. Things didn’t gel as early as the first table read for the new CBS medical series. Harden was suddenly promoted to the aged-up Leane Rorish as Sommerville took over her original role of the now aged-down Dr Christa Lorenson. And the first Leane, Maggie Grace, was left with nothing to play.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 5