Brad Pitt was rejected for a role on Cheers because he’s ‘not funny’

Brad Pitt was rejected for a role on Cheers because he’s ‘not funny’



A HOLLYWOOD casting director has opened up about the stars he helped get their big break — and more interestingly, the ones he rejected before they were famous.

Jeff Greenberg is the Emmy Award-winning casting director behind Modern Family and has previously worked on classic shows like Cheers, Frasier and Ugly Betty.

Talking to People about his book Callback, the casting director revealed the Hollywood favourites he helped discover — and the ones he gave the flick. The biggest name he rejected? Brad Pitt who, at the time, was a relatively unknown actor when he auditioned for a small guest role on the sitcom Cheers.

“My only note was, ‘Not funny’,” Greenberg told People. “For the part, he wasn’t funny — he’s been funny since.”



Greenberg also passed on Keri Russell for a tiny extra role as Model Number One on My So-Called Life. Of course, Russell went on to star in her own show, Felicity.

“But in my casting notes, I wrote, ‘Star to be,’” Greenberg said. “I tracked her career and observed what was inevitable. It was that apparent.”

When it comes to the actor he’s most proud of casting, it’s Eric Stonestreet in the role of Cam on Modern Family.



“He had been auditioning for me for 10 years. I remained a fan, and he was always good,” he said. “We had a very hard time casting that part, and Eric created the alchemy the role needed by finding the funny and grounding it with his mother’s spirit, so that the mix of the masculine and feminine sides of the role were entwined.”

The casting director also helped give Meg Ryan her big break in Top Gun.

“I brought her up to our casting director for the role of Goose’s wife, Carole,” Greenberg, who was a casting assistant on the 1986 production at the time, said. “I actually knew Meg’s work from an episode of Charles in Charge! She came in and grabbed her big break.”

Other A-listers Greenberg cast before they were famous include Zooey Deschanel for a small role in Frasier and Kristen Wiig on the short-lived sitcom I’m With Her.