Adam Scott’s failed audition for “The Office” has found new life as a teaching tool, and his teenage daughter got a front-row seat to the lesson. The “Severance” star told Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” that an acting teacher unknowingly used his old audition tape as a cautionary example during a summer class his daughter attended.
Scott, whose daughter Frankie is entering her senior year of high school, said she spent the summer in a New York acting program while he filmed the third season of “Severance” in the city. On the first day of one class, the teacher gathered students around a screen and played two audition tapes side by side: Scott’s for the role of Jim Halpert on “The Office,” and John Krasinski’s for the same part. The teacher then opened a discussion on why Krasinski got the job and Scott did not.
The teacher had no idea Frankie was sitting in the room. Scott said his daughter was mortified throughout the exercise, though the instructor eventually connected the dots. As Frankie left class, he stopped her to ask whether she knew either actor, then pieced together her last name and realized his mistake. Scott described the teacher’s reaction as one of genuine embarrassment once he understood who he had been critiquing in front of the actor’s own child.
Scott, who turned 53 this year, took the story in stride, joking that he was pleased to know his audition now serves as an official “what not to do” example in what he called a prestigious acting class. He suggested the teacher keep using the comparison in future courses.
The audition loss did not derail Scott’s career. He soon landed the role of Ben Wyatt on “Parks and Recreation,” working alongside “Office” writers Mike Schur and Greg Daniels, and has since built a résumé that includes “Big Little Lies,” “The Good Place” and three Emmy nominations for “Severance.” Scott used the same “Tonight Show” appearance to give an update on the long-awaited third season of “Severance,” noting production had resumed nearly two years after the second season wrapped.
