Turns out, before Andrew Garfield got his big break as Spider-Man, he was close to another fantasy movie franchise. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, he revealed he auditioned for the Narnia films, and lost out because of his looks.
“I remember I was so desperate. I auditioned for Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia and I thought, ‘This could be it, this could be it’,” Garfield says. “And that handsome, brilliant actor Ben Barnes ended up getting the role. I think it was down to me and him, and I remember I was obsessed.” This would’ve been in the mid-2000s, leading up to The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in 2008. Not only is Caspian a title role, the character recurs for two adventure movies after that. Very lucrative for any young actor.
He recalls bugging his agent, asking “why not me?” over and over. His agent, keen to stay employed, wanted to shield him from what was quite harsh feedback given the circumstances. “She eventually just broke under my incessant nagging,” he states. “She just just goes ‘It’s because they don’t think your handsome enough Andrew!'”
Unfortunately, Barnes got the part, but had Garfield done so, he wouldn’t have been in The Social Network, or The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. They allowed him to work with David Fincher and Terry Gilliam, respectively, experiences that no doubt taught him a lot.
Andrew Garfield was *nearly* cast as Prince Caspian in 'The Chronicles of Narnia'—but was told he wasn't handsome enough. 🤨 pic.twitter.com/j3qQKydblj
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) January 10, 2022
Of course, after that, he was in The Amazing Spider-Man movies.