by Kristen HarrisBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffAs a staff writer at BuzzFeed, I write about all things celeb and pop culture.

Hollywood is known to chew people up and spit them out. It can be such a tough industry that sometimes even established actors find the odds immensely stacked against them before they set foot in the audition room.

Here are 30 heartbreaking reasons actors lost roles:

Elle Fanning told the 2023 Hollywood Reporter Comedy Actress Roundtable, "I've never told this story, but I was trying out for a movie. I didn't get it. I don't even think they ever made it, but it was a father-daughter road-trip comedy. I didn't hear from my agents because they wouldn't tell me things like this — that filtration system is really important because there's probably a lot more damaging comments that they filtered — but this one got to me. I was 16 years old, and a person said, 'Oh, she didn't get the father-daughter road-trip comedy because she's unfuckable.' ... It's so disgusting. And I can laugh at it now, like, 'What a disgusting pig!'"

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Alyson Stoner came out as queer in a 2018 Teen Vogue essay, writing, "Some people in the industry warned me that I'd ruin my career, miss out on possible jobs, and potentially put my life in danger if I ever came out. My dream and all I'd worked tirelessly for since the age of 6 was suddenly at risk by my being...true to myself."

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Then, appearing on the Past Your Bedtime podcast in 2023, they confirmed that some of their worst dreams had come true. They said, "I did end up getting fired from a children's show because they felt that I was unsafe, now that they knew I was queer, to be around kids. So there was, like, definitely discrimination there, but the beauty far outweighs the hate comments and death threats."

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Brenda Song told Teen Vogue, "A lot of people don't know this, but I never got to read for Crazy Rich Asians, ever. ... Their reasoning behind that, what they said was that my image was basically not Asian enough, in not so many words. It broke my heart. I said, 'This character is in her late to mid-20s, an Asian American, and I can't even audition for it? I've auditioned for Caucasian roles my entire career, but this specific role, you're not going to let me do it? You're going to fault me for having worked my whole life?' I was like, 'Where do I fit?'"

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Following the rejection, she took a break and did some traveling to help clear her mind. She continued, "I got myself together and said, 'Brenda, there is only one you, and you can't change who you are. You can't change your past.' I am so grateful for every job that I've done. All I can do is continue to put good auditions out there, do the best that I can — that's all I can ask for."

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The role of Rachel Chu went to Constance Wu.

In her pre-Friends days, Jennifer Aniston was instructed to wear tights and a leotard to a callback. The day before, her agent told her he'd been "meaning to talk to" her about her body, and he discussed her figure as if he was talking about a car. In 1996, she told Rolling Stone, "My agent gave it to me straight. Nicest thing he ever did…. The disgusting thing of Hollywood – I wasn't getting lots of jobs 'cause I was too heavy." She then lost 30 pounds on Nutrisystem, which she promoted on The Howard Stern Show.

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In 2021, the Hollywood Reporter reported that "multiple sources" alleged Regé-Jean Page auditioned to play Superman's grandfather, Seyg-El, on the SyFy series Krypton, but Geoff Johns, the former DC executive overseeing the show, allegedly said that "Superman could not have a Black grandfather." Geoff's rep told THR that he "believed fans expected the character to look like a young Henry Cavill."

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In an additional statement, his rep denied the allegations, telling E! News, "Geoff never said Superman can't have a Black ancestor or be Black — there have been diverse versions of Superman throughout the comics for decades, so he does and can be diverse."

In response to the reports, Regé-Jean tweeted, "Hearing about these conversations hurts no less now than it did back then. The clarifications almost hurt more tbh. Still just doing my thing. Still we do the work. We still fly."

John Nacion / Variety via Getty Images

Matt Bomer told the Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast, "I went in on a cattle call for Superman, and then it turned into a four-month audition experience. I was auditioning again and again and again and flying out to New York and doing chemistry reads and flying out to LA and doing chemistry reads, back to New York, flying back to LA to do a screen test, and it looked like I was the director's choice for the

Heartbreaking Reasons Actors Lost Roles