This Severance Star Almost Ended Up as Jim on The Office
Now famous for his portrayals of Mark Scout in Severance and Ben Wyatt in Parks and Recreation, Adam Scott actually auditioned for the role of Jim Halpert in The Office, it has been revealed.
The role, of course, went to John Krasinski who is now synonymous with playing the lovable prankster in the US version of the hit UK sitcom.
Krasinski managed to secure the role thanks to his chemistry with Jenna Fischer who played Pam Beesley and would go on to become Mrs Halpert after their office romance flourished.
Interestingly, Lynn Rajskub also auditioned for the role of Pam. So, we could have had Adam Scott and Rajskub playing those roles had things panned out differently. It's hard to imagine Scott in the role now – although that may be more to do with the fact that Krasinski played it so well rather than any question marks around Scott's ability to take it on.
Another potential Jim was Hamish Linklater who would go on to have huge success in hit comedies The New Adventures of Old Christine and The Crazy Ones as well as the superhero series Legion. A bit of a debonair character, you can only imagine that any practical jokes Jim would have played with Linklater in the role would have been smart and classy.
And there were other auditions on the same day that could have seen a very different cast right throughout the offices of Dunder Mifflin.
Rainn Wilson, who played the part of Dwight Schrute actually auditioned for another role on the same day that he threw his hat into the ring for the part of Dwight – going for the part of Michael Scott. It's another of those where you struggle to see anyone other than Steve Carrel playing the part simply because he was such a hit.
In the end, the fact that a cast could have been so different had other actors' auditions been more successful is something we could say about any show or movie. The Office was a huge success and is still watched and enjoyed today. Likewise, had Adam Scott been cast as Jim Halpert, the chances are he wouldn't have appeared as Ben Wyatt.
But regardless of how successful a show was or how well an actor played a particular part, it's always nice to speculate on what might have been when you see an audition list and realise who might have got parts in one of your favourite shows.