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Why Joe Manganiello Believes Tom Cruise Blocked His Reacher Casting

Watch: Why Joe Manganiello and Sofía Vergara’s Marriage Fell Apart: What They Said About Their Divorce

Joe Manganiello is reaching for Tom Cruise when it comes to the blame for this casting mix up.

In the Magic Mike star’s new memoir Bloodlines, he detailed losing out on the lead role in the Prime Video series Reacher in 2022, sharing how his team speculated that the Top Gun star may have had a hand in the decision.

“Maybe Tom Cruise, who was listed as executive producer because he had starred in the previous film adaptations, could have come over the top,” Manganiello wrote in his memoir, which was released Oct. 13, “and vetoed my being cast.”

The Spider-Man actor alleged that Cruise might have opted to vote against his casting in the series “on account of” Manganiello’s then-wife Sofía Vergara, who had been linked to Cruise more than a decade earlier.

“She said she had broken up with him years before after refusing to take the E-Meter test at the L. Ron Hubbard Celebrity Centre for Scientology,” Manganiello wrote of Cruise and Vergara’s short-lived 2005 romance, “so maybe he wouldn’t want to have to deal with the association with me in perpetuity.”

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Why Joe Manganiello and Sofía Vergara’s Marriage Fell Apart: What He Said, She Said About Their Divorce

Of course, the 49-year-old wasn’t necessarily keeping a finger pointed at Cruise, who played Jack Reacher in two movies but has not been listed among the TV show’s producers, emphasizing, “It was all just speculation.”

Indeed, when it came to losing out on the role to Alan Ritchson despite believing he was all but guaranteed it, Manganiello admitted, “No one would tell me what the hell happened.”

E! News has reached out to reps for Cruise regarding Manganiello’s allegations but has not yet heard back.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

While Vergara nor Cruise have never confirmed their romance publicly, an unauthorized biography about the actor by Andrew Morton claimed they indeed had a brief fling in the mid-aughts after becoming acquainted through mutual friend Will Smith.

In Morton’s telling, a friend of Vergara’s claimed that while the Modern Family actress was “dazzled” by Cruise, she was not willing to renounce her Catholic faith to convert to Scientology.

Although Vergara—mom to son Manolo, 34, with ex Joe González—has never confirmed the claims herself, she was much more forthright about why she felt her romance with Manganiello ended in 2023 after seven years of marriage.

“My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids and I didn’t want to be an old mom,” Vegara told El País in an interview published in 2024. “I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore.” (Manganiello, who is now engaged to Caitlin O’Connor, however has alleged his health struggles played a major part in the collapse of their marriage.)

For more iconic roles that were nearly played by other actors, keep reading…

Presley Ann Photo/for Sundance; Virginia Sherwood/Nbc-Tv/Kobal

Glen Powell as Tim Riggins on Friday Night LightsThe Top Gun: Maverick star tried out for multiple parts on Friday Night Lights, including a main role that Taylor Kitsch played.

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic / SGranitz/WireImage

Chris Pine as Ryan Atwood on The O.C.The Star Trek actor lost out on the role, which ultimately went to Ben McKenzie, due to his bad acne.”I had awful skin as a teenager,” he said on Josh Horowitz‘s podcast Happy Sad Confused in May 2024, “and then I when I came after college, my skin started breaking out again.”

Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images/Ron P. Jaffe/CBS

Jason Biggs as Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother“I was offered the role and it’s probably my biggest regret, you know, on passing,” the American Pie alum revealed in a 2021 SiriusXM interview. “I think I was in a phase of, at the time—it sounds so obnoxious to say right now—but at the time it was like, ‘Okay, do I want to do TV?’ I don’t know that I was quite ready to go that route.”

Ken Ishii/Getty Images/James Devaney/WireImage

Alden Ehrenreich as Dan on Gossip GirlCasting director David Rapaport told EW, “Before Penn was involved, I desperately wanted Alden Ehrenreich to play Dan,” but producers thought the 5-foot-9 actor was too short to play the role of Blake Lively‘s love interest. So the role went to Penn Badgley, who is just about the same height as Ehrenreich, according to the internet.

Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images; Todd Williamson/Getty Images

Rob Lowe as Derek Shepherd on Grey’s AnatomyLowe revealed that he turned down the role of McDreamy in his 2014 memoir, and it came back up in an episode of Marc Maron‘s podcast. “That’s probably cost me $70 million,” he joked. “Eh, it’s just money.” Lowe says he watched the pilot when it came out, “and when they started calling the handsome doctor ‘McDreamy,’ I was like, ‘yeah, that’s not for me.'”

Roy Rochlin/Getty Images, Moviestore/Shutterstock

Benedict Cumberbatch as Bill Compton on True BloodSherlock and Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch auditioned for the role of vampire Bill Compton back in the day. Stephen Moyer went on to land the part.

Gary Gershoff/WireImage, Moviestore/Shutterstock

Jessica Chastain as Sookie Stackhouse on True BloodBefore she was an Oscar nominee, Jessica Chastain read for the role of Sookie Stackhouse. The part eventually went to Anna Paquin.

VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images, Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage

Jennifer Lawrence as Crystal Norris on True BloodA 17-year-old Jennifer Lawrence read for the part of werepanther Crystal Norris, and almost got the part, but her age played a factor in the part going to another actress. Lindsay Pulsipher landed the gig.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic, Warner Bros. Television

Tiffani Thiessen as Rachel on FriendsSaved By the Bell and Beverly Hills, 90210 veteran Tiffani Thiessen said she auditioned for the part of Rachel on Friends, but she was too young for the role.

Monica Schipper/Getty Images, Cbs Television/Entertainment Pictures via ZUMA Press)

Katherine Langford as Betty Cooper on RiverdaleKatherine Langford on Riverdale? It almost happened. The Golden Globe-nominated star of 13 Reasons Why auditioned for the role of Betty Cooper, according to Riverdale star Camila Mendes. “I remember we went out and we got falafel with a guy who was auditioning for Archie,” Mendes told EW.

Getty Images

Katherine Heigl as Jen Lindley on Dawson’s CreekIt’s hard to imagine anyone else playing Capeside’s resident NYC transplant, but as creator Kevin Williamson revealed to Entertainment Weekly, the role of Jen almost went to future Grey’s Anatomy star Katherine Heigl, thanks to pilot director Steve Miner, who brought the star of his 1994 film My Father the Hero to Williamson’s attention. “She looked slightly older at that time. Even though she was younger, I just think she was more mature,” Williamson recalled. “She gave a great audition, I remember we were all sort of like, ‘Wow, she’s good.'”

Getty Images

Selma Blair as Joey Potter on Dawson’s CreekThe role of Dawson Leery’s lovesick BFF Joey Potter turned Katie Holmes into a star, but the part almost wasn’t hers. As creator Kevin Williamson admitted to Entertainment Weekly, the role was Selma Blair‘s to eventually lose. “I really loved Selma until, of course, I got the infamous videotape from the basement of the Holmes family in Toledo, Ohio,”he said of Holmes’ last-minute audition. “And when that video showed up, it changed my whole life.”

Getty Images

Lisa Edelstein as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the CityThe House and Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce actress was so close to taking on the iconic role of Carrie Bradshaw that she even had a completed contract. In the end, however, she was just the back-up to the producers’ first choice, Sarah Jessica Parker. “I was either going to do it or not. It all depended on whether she said yes,” Edelstein said. “My contract was complete. I was waiting.” While we struggle to imagine a world in which SJP is not Carrie Bradshaw, Edelstein actually makes a lot of sense.

Getty Images

Ashley Olsen as Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip GirlInitially, The CW wanted Ashley Olsen as our favorite beautiful blonde Upper East Sider, casting director David Rapaport told Buzzfeed, but he only had eyes for Lively. “I was terrified we wouldn’t get her or they wouldn’t like her because, honestly, the show lived and died on her and I had absolutely no other ideas,” he said.

Getty Images

Rumer Willis as Blair Waldorf on Gossip GirlThe CW wanted future Dancing With the Stars champion Rumer Willis as the Gossip Girl lead, but casting director Rapaport knew she wasn’t right for the role (and would eventually cast her on 90210). “I love Rumer,” he told Buzzfeed. “She’s grown into quite an amazing actress and person, but that, to me, was based on protecting the investment of a television show where creatively, these lesser-known girls really captured the essence of the show and carried it for six years.”

Getty Images; Kharen Hill/The CW

Keke Palmer as Iris West on The FlashBefore Keke Palmer was cast on Fox’s hilarious horror comedy Scream Queens, she was in the running to play Iris West on The Flash, a role that eventually went to Candice Patton. “We had seen Candice initially, but I think we were too early on in the process to cast her so we ended up testing Keke Palmer and this other girl, but they felt a little too young next to Grant [Gustin],” casting director David Rapaport told Buzzfeed. When he brought Candice back, “it was magic.”

Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

Iwan Rheon as Jon Snow on Game of ThronesIwan Rheon told The Telegraph that when the Game of Thrones pilot was being cast, he made it to the final two for the role of Jon Snow. Of course, Rheon went on to play Ramsay Snow, a.k.a. season 5’s most hated character, while Kit Harington cemented a place in our hearts as Jon. We can’t even bear to imagine it any differently, so we just won’t.

NBC, Getty Images

Chris Pratt as Chuck on ChuckAfter working with the Guardians of the Galaxy star on the final season of The O.C., Josh Schwartz revealed Pratt was his first choice for the role that eventually went to Zachary Levi. “He was the first guy I wanted to play ‘Chuck’. But as fate would have it, he was destined to guard the galaxy, not the Buy More,” Schwartz revealed. “And might I add, couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images, Jessica Miglio/Netflix

Katie Holmes as Piper on Orange Is the New BlackThe Dawson’s Creek veteran met with Orange Is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan early in the show’s development, Kohan revealed. Holmes, who is an admitted fan of the series, had “other things to do,” Kohan told E! News. “And also in the beginning no one knew what this was.”

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Cobie Smulders as Kate on LostYep, Robin Scherbatsky could have been Kate Austen, and two of our favorite shows were almost very different, according to Cobie Smulders.Both she and Evangeline Lilly were “testing for Lost,” Smulders revealed to E! News in 2014. “She owes a lot to me because I went in and I bombed the audition. And she was like, ‘Thank you!'”

FOX/CBS/ABC

Helen Hunt, Ashley Judd as Alicia on The Good WifeEverybody knows The Good Wife is Julianna Margulies‘ show, but that almost wasn’t the case. The Emmy winner revealed the studio wanted Ashley Judd and Helen Hunt before she got the gig.

WB; Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Katie Holmes as Buffy on Buffy the Vampire SlayerHard to imagine anyone else hunting down vampires in Sunnydale, but the ex-Mrs. Cruise almost had the title role in the WB series. Holmes turned it down to go to high school, and Sarah Michelle Gellar was cast.

HBO, Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Lorraine Bracco as Carmela Soprano on The SopranosThe role that eventually went to Edie Falco was originally offered to Lorraine Bracco, but the Oscar nominee said she had already done that part in Goodfellas and wanted to try her hand at something new.

FOX, ABC

Taraji P. Henson as Olivia Pope on ScandalBefore she was breaking records on Fox’s Empire, Taraji P. Henson revealed she auditioned to be Scandal‘s ultimate fixer, Olivia Pope. “When I went in to read for Shonda Rhimes, in my mind I was like, ‘This is Kerry Washington. Why am I even in here?'” she said. “It was hers.”

Ian Gavan/Getty Images

Gillian Anderson as Lady Cora on Downton AbbeyCan you imagine Agent Scully residing in Downton Abbey? It almost happened, but the X Files star turned down the role that eventually went to Elizabeth McGovern.

CW; Henry S. Dziekan III/Getty Images

Ashlee Simpson as Elena on The Vampire DiariesIt’s hard to imagine anyone else playing Elena Gilbert on the CW hit series, but the singer-actress was the network’s first choice. It wasn’t until the producers took a second look at Nina Dobrev‘s audition tape that they decided to go with the Bulgarian beauty.

Ron Galella/WireImage; NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Whitney Houston as Sondra on The Cosby ShowThe legendary singer was offered the lead role in Bill Cosby-led series, but passed to pursue her music career. The oldest Huxtable daughter was ultimately portrayed by Sabrina Le Beauf.

ABC; HBO

Dana Delany as Carrie on Sex and the CityTo Sex and the City fans, Sarah Jessica Parker is Carrie Bradshaw, but once upon a time, Delany was offered the role of the New York columnist. The Emmy-winner passed because she had already done multiple projects involving x-rated material (Nude Girls, Exit to Eden) and didn’t want to be involved with a project that had “sex” in the title.

NBC; Jim Spellman/WireImage

Paul Schaffer as George on SeinfeldDavid Letterman‘s former late night show bandleader was offered the role by Jerry Seinfeld without an audition, but Shaffer never called him back. Jason Alexander was cast after submitting an audition tape featuring a Woody Allen impression.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images; Jaimie Trueblood/AMC

Thomas Jane as Don on Mad MenAMC wanted the Boogie Nights actor, but Jon Hamm said during a podcast that Jane passed because he didn’t want to be on a television show. Of course, Jane would go on to star in HBO’s Hung.

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