Olivia Wilde breaks down Sam Rockwell’s clever audition move

Olivia Wilde has revealed the unusual audition trick Sam Rockwell used early in his acting career.

During an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, the Don’t Worry Darling director recalled hearing about the Oscar winning actor’s famous audition for the 1999 film The Green Mile while she was working as an assistant to casting director Mali Finn.

She said he arrived for the audition with the wrong scenes but asked for the correct pages and was given only a few minutes to prepare.

“He came back in, and he nails it,” she said, adding that the performance impressed the team and helped him secure the role of Wild Bill Wharton.

However, she later discovered that his quick preparation was not exactly what it appeared to be.

While working with him on Cowboys & Aliens, she asked about the story and the 57-year-old actor admitted it was something he had done before.

“Ha! Oh yeah, that was, like, a thing I used to do. That worked every time,” he said.

The House alum said she was amazed by the technique, explaining that Rockwell’s method helped lower expectations before delivering a strong performance.

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