Ron Howard‘s movie Rush is about the real-life rivalry between Formula One drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt. Chris Hemsworth stars as Hunt in the film, but according to Howard in an interview with MTV, Hemsworth wasn’t originally able to audition for the part in person because of other commitments. However, Howard reveals that Hemsworth wasn’t going to let that prevent him from getting the part.
Howard explains that at first it was very difficult to find a suitable actor for the part. He says, “I started meeting some people, started thinking about it, and it wasn’t going very well. I thought, ‘Maybe we’re just not going to be able to do this movie.'” Though Howard’s longtime producing partner Brian Grazer suggested that Howard consider Hemsworth for the part, Howard wanted him to audition.
Except that wasn’t possible — Hemsworth was a little busy filming a movie you might have heard of: The Avengers. However, that didn’t stop Hemsworth from auditioning. Howard reveals, “I asked Chris if he would audition, and he couldn’t because he was doing Avengers. The next day, or literally within 36 hours, I had a self-made audition that he did, just from his hotel room from location in Albuquerque. It was unbelievable. Brian was right. We had our Hunt. Suddenly, it was done. We had a great young cast, and they were gifted and right for the roles. Ultimately, it was the easiest time I had casting a movie.”
And just think about all the time you’ve probably wasted just sitting around hotel rooms… look what you could’ve been doing instead!
