Director Nancy Meyers rejected the men after their audition.
Jimmy Fallon and Robert Downey Jr.'s joint audition didn't go well. During an appearance on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show, the 48-year-old late-night host and the 58-year-old actor recalled auditioning for The Holiday.
"We both got called in just as seat fillers and we saw each other," Downey said. "Jack Black is getting his part and Jude Law is definitely getting my part, but she needed someone to read with the gals and we're sitting there going, 'It's about to happen for us.'"
While Downey was sure he wouldn't get the part, Fallon thought, "If Jack Black says no to this movie, I'm so in. I'll do it for half his price."
However, Downey did think he had one thing down better than Law, who was eventually cast in the role of Graham.
"I was like, 'I've gotta have a better English accent than Jude Law at this point,'" Downey quipped, before recalling what Kate Winslet told him after he read for the part. "Winslet said, 'That is the worst British accent I've ever heard,' and I was like, 'I'll check out now, but I'm taking the gummy bears from the mini bar.'"
After Fallon read for the role of Miles, which ultimately went to Black, he never auditioned for an acting role again.
"Honestly, I will tell you by far, without a doubt, I'm sitting across from Robert Downey Jr., and I go, 'This is the best actor I've ever sat across and did a scene with in my entire life,'" Fallon said. "It was mind-blowing for me and it kind of, I quit the business. I never went back. That was the last time I auditioned for a role."
As for how the men found out they didn't land the job, Downey recalled director Nancy Meyers telling them, "It's just, this was great. It's just not a perfect fit. It's not a perfect fit."
Stern was disappointed by the story, telling the men that the 2006 flick, which also starred Cameron Diaz, "would've been so much better with the two of you guys."
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