The actor revealed that his failed audition for “The Office” was shown to his daughter’s acting class, where students were asked to compare his performance with John Krasinski’s successful audition for Jim Halpert. Scott recounted the story during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as reported by Variety.
Adam Scott’s Old Audition Became an Acting Lesson
Scott explained that his daughter’s acting teacher presented the two auditions directly to the salon, turning the casting decision into a practical exercise. “He put it to the class like, ‘Okay. Let’s discuss why he got the job, and he didn’t,’” he recalled.
Source: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
The lesson apparently focused on the contrast between Scott’s performance and Krasinski’s successful audition. For Scott, the most unexpected part was knowing that his own failed attempt had become useful material for aspiring actors. “But I’m just happy to know that in a prestigious acting class, I’m the subject of what not to do,” he said.
His daughter, however, was less amused by the situation. “She was mortified,” Scott said. The awkwardness continued after class, when the teacher finally realized that one of the students was Scott’s daughter.
“And when she was walking out, the teacher stopped her, he’s like, ‘Hey, um, do you know one of them? Like, what…’” Scott recalled. The teacher then connected the dots after noticing her last name. “And then he kind of put two and two together with her last name and he felt terrible.”
The story is particularly funny given what happened to both actors afterward. Krasinski became inseparable from Jim Halpert, while Scott went on to establish himself through Ben Wyatt on “Parks and Recreation” before taking on Mark Scout in “Severance.” The latter became one of his biggest dramatic roles, with the series’ second season arriving in 2025 and a third season already confirmed.
For Scott, though, the “Office” audition remains an unusually memorable example of a role that got away. Years later, he can at least say that the tape found a second life, even if it was in a classroom where his own daughter happened to be sitting.
