It’s been over two decades since Adam Scott was rejected by The Office for the role of Jim Halpert, but the failed audition is still haunting him in unexpected ways.
The three-time Emmy nominee, 53, told Jimmy Fallon, 51, that a New York City acting teacher had students compare his audition tape with John Krasinski’s and discuss why Krasinski, 46, won the role.
The catch? Scott’s 17-year-old daughter, Frankie, was in the class.
“My daughter, who’s about to be a senior in high school, she was here in an acting program in New York for the summer,” he said. “On the first day of one of her acting classes, her teacher kind of gathered everybody and put up a screen, and he was like, ‘OK,’ and he showed video of my audition for The Office.”
“And then,” Scott continued, “he showed video of John Krasinski’s audition for The Office. And then he put it to the class. He’s like, ‘OK. Let’s discuss why he got the job, and he didn’t.”
The teacher didn’t know Frankie was related to Scott. He must have picked up on the fact that she was “mortified,” though, because at the end of class, he stopped her and asked if she knew Scott or Krasinski.
“And then he kind of put two and two together with her last name, and he felt terrible,” Scott said. “It was kind of great.”
Scott finds the whole thing funny, even saying the teacher should keep the comparison in his curriculum.
Shortly after his Office flop, Scott landed the role of Ben Wyatt in the hit office-style sitcom, Parks & Recreation. He’s also starred in an impressive slate of acclaimed projects including Big Little Lies, The Good Place, and Severance, for which he’s received three acting Emmy nominations.
Despite his success, he knows he’s not immune to criticism. “I’m just happy to know that, in a prestigious acting class, I’m the subject of, like, ‘what not to do,’” he quipped.
