All actors get nervous when auditioning, but Will Arnett had his mind on something else when reading for Oscar-winning director Kevin Costner.
“I legitimately was worried about c--pping my pants‚” Arnett, 55, recalled of his audition for Costner’s 1997 film, The Postman, in an interview on Hot Ones.
On Thursday, Arnett told Hot Ones host Sean Evans, 39, about the near-catastrophic audition that kept him from a role in Costner’s critically panned western.
“The night before, I had eaten something bad. I ended up going to the hospital because I was so dehydrated from being ill,” Arnett said. “That was the furthest I’d been away from the bathroom in like 14 hours.”
By 1997, Costner, 71, had won two Academy Awards for his direction of Dances With Wolves, and Arnett had yet to land his first big break.
Arnett recalls being nervous, but not from meeting the ‘90s box-office giant. Instead, all Arnett remembers is the “cold sweat” of trying to keep his insides, well, inside.
“This could go really bad,” Arnett recalled thinking. “I was meeting Kevin Costner, and I legitimately was worried about c--pping my pants.”
Needless to say, Arnett did not land the role.
Early in his career, Arnett took on a few small roles in low-budget films and guest-starred on TV shows before getting his big break in 2003 with the oddball TV comedy Arrested Development.
It turns out he might have dodged a bullet by failing to secure a role in The Postman, which swept the 1998 Razzie Awards for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Original Song.
30 years after his worst-ever audition, Arnett again wondered if he might have an on-camera incident.
“I‘m so nervous about eating hot food. I can’t even watch people eat hot food, spicy food,” Arnett said on Hot Ones, where guests are interviewed while eating increasingly spicy chicken wings.
When Arnett’s publicist—whom he shares with Hot Ones host Evans—asked him to be on the show, Arnett was initially hesitant to relive the near-accident.
“I liked the idea, but I feel like I’m gonna embarrass myself,” he told his publicist. “I’m gonna have to wear a Depend during taping.”
As he did at his late-’90s audition, Arnett held himself together without a bathroom emergency. He did, however, inquire about a spice-induced lip replacement surgery.
“How much is lip replacement surgery? Is that even a thing?” Arnett asked while drinking milk to dampen the spiciness. “My mouth wants to leave my body.”
The Emmy-nominated actor is currently starring in Is This Thing On?, a Bradley Cooper-directed film about a stand-up comic whose divorce spills into his comedy material.
The film premiered at the New York Film Festival and is currently playing in theaters.
