It turns out attractive looks can be less of a help and more of a hindrance in the world of film.
3 Body Problem star Eiza Gonzalez recently came under fire after she claimed she has missed out on film roles due to being ‘too pretty.’
The actress, 34, indicated that her good looks have harmed her career, though many fans seemed to think the lackluster opportunities had more to do with her talent.
In a new interview with InStyle Eiza said: ‘I remember being [told for] so many projects, ‘She’s too pretty for the role. She’s too hot for the role.’ Then I’d just be like, What is Margot Robbie? She’s the hottest, most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life!’
But she isn’t the first actress to claim her beautiful good looks have held her back as MailOnline take a look at the stars who are ‘too pretty’ for roles.
MailOnline takes a look at the actresses who believe their attractiveness has held them back amid Eiza Gonzalez recent claims she misses out on roles due to being ‘too pretty’
Jessica Biel
After being named Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive in 2005, Jessica Biel revealed the title caused her to struggle to get the parts she wanted.
Speaking to Elle in 2007, the actress admitted she was once told by a director, ‘I’m not looking for the sexiest woman; I’m looking for the girl next door.’
She added: ‘Parts I really want aren’t going to me. Like The Other Boleyn Girl with Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman.
‘I don’t want to say that there’s nothing I love that I can’t have. But there’s still the occasional script that the director doesn’t want to see you for. They want that top tier of girls.’
After being named Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive in 2005, Jessica Biel revealed the title caused her to struggle to get the parts she wanted
Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley almost didn’t get her role in Pride And Prejudice as director Joe Wright thought she was too pretty.
Appearing on The Graham Norton Show back in 2014, Graham probed the actress on the issue as she said: ‘Oh you’re talking about Joe Wright.
‘Yeah Joe Wright who I have worked with three times on Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and Anna Karenina didn’t originally want me for Pride And Prejudice because he thought I was too pretty.’
She joked: ‘Then he met me and said, “Oh no, you’re fine!”‘.
‘Did he phrase it nicer than that?’ asked Graham, ‘No he didn’t’ laughed Keira before adding ‘but it worked out alright I got the part.’
Keira Knightley almost didn’t get her role in Pride And Prejudice as director Joe Wright thought she was too pretty
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson has claimed her looks and her ‘too-sexy’ image have cost her some roles.
The actress was most likely referring to her audition for the part of edgy Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Director David Fincher previously praised her audition but added: ‘The thing with Scarlett is you can’t wait for her to take her clothes off.’
Speaking about her looks holding her back, she said: ‘That has happened to me. yeah. That’s always an unfortunate thing to figure out. “Why can’t you see?!”
‘For me, I would imagine casting someone, you would want to challenge yourself in some way.
‘It is so interesting to see actors transform. There are certainly plenty of times when I am definitely not sexy.’
Scarlett Johansson has claimed her looks and her ‘too-sexy’ image have cost her some roles
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence almost missed the chance to star in her breakout role in 2010’s Winter’s Bone as producers thought she was too attractive.
Speaking in an interview on NPR, the actress, who earned her first Oscar nomination for the role, confessed that they originally turned her down so she made herself less attractive.
The star explained: ‘Well they… turned me down and then they moved casting to New York, and I put myself on a red-eye to just show up to casting the next day in New York.’
She teased: ‘So that always helps. Red-eye. Not showering. No makeup. Eventually they went, “Oh, she’s right. She’s not cute!”‘
Jennifer Lawrence almost missed the chance to star in her breakout role in 2010’s Winter’s Bone as producers thought she was too attractive
Alison Brie
Alison Brie believes her past roles as ‘polished and adorable’ characters almost stopped her getting the role of the less conventionally attractive Ruth in Glow.
Speaking about the casting process in an interview with Vulture, the actress admitted: ‘Ruth as a character is described often as an unconventional woman, and she is not meant to be conventionally attractive.
‘I think they were responding to roles that I’ve played in the past that are very polished and adorable, which was not what they were looking for.
‘So, I was brought in many times and I wore no makeup, and wore workout clothes, and tied my hair back, and really didn’t hold back my desire to be a part of the show.’
Alison Brie believes her past roles as ‘polished and adorable’ characters almost stopped her getting the role of the less conventionally attractive Ruth in Glow
Hugh Grant
And it seems being attractive doesn’t only hold women back, after Hugh Grant almost missed out on his starring role in Four Weddings And A Funeral as Richard Curtis thought he was too good looking.
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, the actor revealed the director did ‘everything in his power to stop me getting the part’, adding he assumed it was because he was ‘too hoity-toity posh’.
However Richard later set the record straight during a question-and-answer session at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2014, as he said the key to the film was that the lead wasn’t supposed to be attractive.
He said: ‘The absolutely key thing for that film when I was writing it was that the person who was playing the lead would not be good looking. That was the absolute starting thesis of the film.’
And it seems being attractive doesn’t only hold women back, after Hugh Grant almost missed out on his starring role in Four Weddings And A Funeral (pictured) as Richard Curtis thought he was too good looking
