Jimmy Fallon Left the Idea of Acting After Watching Robert Downey Jr’s Audition: “Best Actor I’ve Ever Sat Across”
Nancy Meyers' The Holiday transformed many people's life, including that of comedian Jimmy Fallon, who changed his career path as a result of it. The film which was released in 2006, follows British Iris (Kate Winslet) and American Amanda (Cameron Diaz), two unlucky-in-love ladies who trade houses during the holidays. Winslet and Diaz are joined by Jack Black and Jude Law, who play their respective love interests, per Looper.
While it's difficult to fathom anyone other than Black and Law in those now-iconic roles, there is a scenario in which the characters could have been played by Jimmy Fallon and Robert Downey Jr. During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Fallon, and Downey Jr. discussed their unsuccessful auditions for The Holiday. "Without a doubt, this is the best actor I've ever sat across from and did a scene with in my entire life," Fallon told Stern.
Fallon was so taken with Downey Jr.'s audition for The Holiday that he decided to abandon acting completely. "This was mind-blowing to me," Fallon confessed. "I quit the business. I never went back. That was the last time I auditioned for a role."
Things definitely worked out for Fallon, as he now hosts the ever-popular Tonight Show on NBC.
On one hand, Robert Downey Jr.'s audition left Jimmy Fallon doubting his acting prospects, but on the other, it left Kate Winslet unimpressed and she was ready to tear the Tropic Thunder actor apart. During an interview with Howard Stern, Downey Jr. established the tone by discussing how he and Fallon were invited to audition alongside Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz.
"We both got called in just as seat fillers," Downey Jr. joked. "Nancy Meyers needed someone to read with the gals and we're sitting there going, 'It's about to happen for us,'" Downey Jr. said.
But it didn't happen for them. Downey Jr. was so sure of himself that he thought he was on track to replace Jude Law, who romances Diaz's character in The Holiday. Law preserves his lovely British accent in the film, which Downey Jr. attempted to emulate in the audition.
Downey Jr. ended up botching his audition and received some complimentary feedback from Winslet. "I was like, 'I've got to have a better English accent than Jude Law at this point.' And Winslet said, 'That was the worst British accent I've ever heard,'" Downey Jr. remembered.
The actress went on to add that writer-director Nancy Meyers informed them their auditions were "great" but "not a perfect fit." While having Downey Jr. star in a Meyers rom-com would have been fantastic, it's probably for the best that he ended up as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe two years later. Downey Jr.'s The Holiday audition was a major game changer for Fallon as well, propelling him to the top of the comedy industry.
References:
https://www.looper.com/1343736/the-holiday-jimmy-fallon-quit-acting-robert-downey-jr-audition/
