Robert Downey Jr., Jimmy Fallon Recall Failed Audition For ‘The Holiday’

While The holiday became a rom-com staple during the winter season, the cast might have looked different if Robert Downey Jr. and Jimmy Fallon’s audition hadn’t panned out.

During an interview on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, Fallon and Downey recalled auditioning for the 2006 Nancy Meyers romantic comedy for roles that ultimately went to Jude Law and Jack Black. Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz also starred in the film about two women who swap houses during the holiday season.

“We both got called just like seat fillers and we saw each other,” Downey said of meeting Fallon at the time. “Jack Black will get her part and Jude Law will definitely get my part, but she (Meyers) needed someone to read with the girls, and we’re just sitting there thinking, ‘This is going to happen for us.’ ”

“I was in a hotel room with Robert Downey Jr., Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, and we read this script,” Fallon continued. “I said, ‘If Jack Black says no to this movie, I’m all for it. I’ll do it for half the price of him.'”

Despite feeling “confident” and like they were a “shoo-in” to the film, Downey recalled Winslet jokingly telling him her thoughts about his British accent. “I was like, ‘I must have a better British accent than Jude Law at this point,'” Downey said. “And Winslet said, ‘That’s the worst British accent he’s ever heard.'”

“I was like, now I’m going to check, but I’m getting the gummy bears from the minibar,” she joked.

While he didn’t score the roles, Fallon said the audition was “mind-blowing” for him as he was able to sit across from Downey, who he described as “the best actor I’ve sat across from and that I have shot a scene with in my entire life.” He added, “It was mind-blowing for me. I quit the business. I’ve never gone back.

Fallon also joked that he has a tattoo of him and Downey “arm in arm, walking away dejected, not being cast in this movie.”

Ultimately, Downey said Meyers thought the film was “not right” for the two: “Nancy said to both of them at the same time, ‘That was great. It’s just not a perfect fit. It’s not a perfect fit.’”

However, Stern begged to differ when he told them, “That movie would’ve been so much better with you two guys.”