Alison Brie Recalls An Early Audition Horror Story: “I left and cried in my car”

Having landed roles on acclaimed TV series like Community and Mad Men, Alison Brie has clearly wowed some casting directors in her time. However, one hard-to-impress producer still leaves the 29-year-old actress shaking in her shoes.

“My worst audition haunts me, because of this producer who was holding it. When I hear his name I’m like the kid in Ransom. I pee my pants,” Brie told EW.com for a recent story.

As Brie tells it,she went in feeling “super-confident” but it quickly got off on the wrong foot. “The guy’s like, “Do you have your resume?” And I was like, “Here. It’s spectacular!” I was clearly joking, because I had nothing of note on my resume,” she said.

The session only went downhill from there.

“That guy, he just immediately was like, (deadpans) “Oh. It’s spectacular. Gosh, you really think a lot about yourself, don’t you? You think really highly of yourself.” It was the last way that I meant it at all. So we sat there uncomfortably for a few minutes that felt like ages. Then he was like, “Well, are you going to do the scene?” So I stood up and did the scene, and I was shaking. Then I finished it and he was like, “Who do you think this character is?” I was like, “Oh, I think she’s a strong woman. She’s independent, she works in this atmosphere with all of these men…” And he was like, “Oh. And is that what you think you just showed me right now?” I was so nervous. I left and cried in my car.”