“Wow, you really are funny”: Anna Faris Was Laughed Out of Her Audition For HBO’s Six Feet Under Despite Her Best Dramatic Acting
One of the most notable actors in the business, Anna Faris, gained popularity from 2000 to 2006 when she played Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie film series. Later, in the 2013 premiere of the CBS comedy MOM, she portrayed the starring role. After eight seasons, MOM rose to the third rank among comedy television shows in terms of viewership.
The actress went on to star in several films, such as Smiley Face, The House Bunny, The Dictator, Brokeback Mountain , etc. In 2017, Faris released a memoir Unqualified, which went on to become a New York Times Best Seller. In 2015, she started her advising podcast, Unqualified. The actress who is inherently humorous didn’t get a part in a very unique show she auditioned for. Let’s examine.
Anna Faris was turned down from Six Feet Under because she is funny
Actress Anna Faris, who has majorly played comic characters in her career, has reportedly auditioned for Six Feet Under for the part of Claire Fisher, who was eventually played by Lauren Ambrose for eight seasons.
According to EW, the reason why Anna Faris was not given the part of Claire Fisher was because the creator of the show, Alan Ball, couldn’t stop laughing at her audition.
In an interview with EW dated back in 2003, the actress shared,
”I auditioned for Lauren Ambrose’s role on Six Feet Under. It was a really serious scene: She learns that her dad dies. She’s high. And creator Alan Ball just started cracking up. When I finished, he said, ‘Wow, you really are funny.’… It felt good, but still — what am I doing that’s so funny?”
The actress added that maybe it’s because she is really goofy or animated. Filmmaker David Zucker explained that the actress has a natural comic instinct, adding that she is subtle — more the Leslie Nielsen type. Without batting an eyelash, she gets the laughs.
Anna Faris recalls chilling details about working with director Ivan Reitman
The actress worked with director Ivan Reitman on My Super Ex-Girlfriend and in a candid conversation with Lena Dunham on her podcast, she said that she was terrified on her first day, adding that she was 20-25 minutes, which led to the late director unleashing his anger on her.
She explained via People,
“He was just like ‘Annie!’ — he always called me Annie — he’s like ‘you can’t play like that around here!’ — and I was like ‘don’t do it, don’t cry, no crying,’ and I felt angry and hurt and humiliated and defensive.”
It wasn’t until she told him that she was late after a big jar of wig glue was spilled on her while she was getting ready, the director shut up and went behind the camera.
Anna Faris accused Ivan Reitman of touching her inappropriately
The actress back in 2020 had accused the late director of touching her inappropriately while they were filming, however, but mentioned that it didn’t feel traumatic but it was inappropriate.
Anna Faris said:
“But then later he slapped my ass, too. That was a weird moment. My reaction was embarrassing. My reaction of laughing.”
She also noted that she didn’t say anything to anybody about it ever because she didn’t feel the need to add that it was embarrassing. Since she revealed it, she has been asked if she waited for the director’s death to name him, to which she said that maybe it’s true as she was debating whether or not to cut it out of the podcast, but eventually thought that enough time had passed.
