Bette Davis Was ‘Haunted’ By Losing Out on Scarlett O’Hara in ‘Gone With the Wind’
The acting industry is cutthroat. Even the Hollywood elite find themselves battling for a role. Losing out on a lucrative role can sting.
Amanda Seyfried recently expressed disappointment after losing out on the part of Glinda in Wicked. She revealed that she “bent over backward” trying to get the part only for it to go to Ariana Grande.
Similarly, Bette Davis was “haunted” by losing out on Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. Here’s how it unfolded.
Several actors were considered for the role of Scarlett O’Hara
Gone with the Wind producers faced difficulty casting the lead roles of Scarlett and Rhett Butler. The process went on for two years. David O. Selznick knew from the beginning that he wanted Clark Gable to play Rhett. The only issue: Gable had a contract with MGM Studios, who refused to loan him out to studios, reports Be Kind Rewind.
He eventually won Gable and over a million dollars in funding. MGM negotiated that half of the film’s profits go to them. The film had a delay in production, which Selznick took advantage of to find Gable’s co-star. He began a nationwide casting call auditioning 1,400 actors.
The endeavor cost Selznick $100,000 and ultimately proved futile but created great press for the movie. Selznick considered Tallulah Bankhead, Miriam Hopkins, Joan Crawford, and Norma Shearer, who was MGM’s top female box office draw at the time. Shearer withdrew from the competition.
Katherine Hepburn campaigned hard for the role of Scarlett and even received backing from George Cukor, who’d been tapped to direct. However, Selznick felt Hepburn lacked the sex appeal needed for the role.
Selznick further auditioned other actors, some famous and others on the cusp of fame. Among those considered were Anita Louise, Linda Watkins, Paulette Goddard, Joan Bennett, Lana Turner, Nancy Coleman, Diana Barrymore, Ellen Drew, and Bette Davis.
Hopkins was considered for the part but ultimately lost because she was deemed too old to play Scarlett. Goddard, tested in Technicolor, lost the role due to her controversial marriage to Charlie Chaplin.
Bette Davis was ‘haunted’ by the loss of the role
Before landing on Vivien Leigh, Selznick had seriously considered hiring Davis for the part of Scarlett O’Hara. During his search, he approached Jack Warner of Warner Brothers to proposition the exec to loan him Davis and Errol Flynn as a package for the lead roles in Gone with the Wind.
Flynn and Davis had appeared in The Sisters, and Selznick thought they would be a great match for Scarlett and Rhett. However, Davis didn’t want to work with Flynn as she “was realistic about Errol’s limited acting talent.”
According to Love Letters to Old Hollywood, Davis resented Flynn due to billing and because all he had to do to get roles was to sit pretty. Davis’s refusal to work with Flynn sealed her chances of playing Scarlett shut. She’d mounted an “ardent campaign” for the part and, according to The Atlantic, losing out on it hit her hard.
The outlet notes that the loss “haunted” Davis for years, understandably so, considering she was by far the most popular candidate for the role, winning over 40% of the votes.
Bette Davis blamed Katherine Hepburn for the loss
Davis and Cukor worked together in the ’20s, but he let her go citing the lack of roles he considered suited the actor. Davis became convinced that Cukor hated her and liked Hepburn more. Her conviction further solidified after Cukor endorsed Hepburn for Scarlett in Gone with the Wind.
After losing out on Scarlett, Davis gave interviews saying Cukor was responsible for her missing out on the part. She said if Cukor wanted her to land the part, he would have negotiated with Warner Brothers to exclude Flynn from the package deal request.
