We all can blame a stool for Mahershala Ali not being cast in “Game of Thrones”

Actor Mahershala Ali has had quite an explosive year. But before he knocked all our socks off in Oscar contender Moonlight, Ali was experiencing a firm round of rejections. And thanks to a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, we’ve learned we narrowly missed seeing Mahershala Ali on Game of Thrones! It seems the person at fault was…a stool?

First, let’s examine the facts: Mahershala Ali stole our hearts in Moonlight. Which, by the way, if none of you have seen…get to the theater immediately. Then he turned our heads in Marvel’s Luke Cage and a smaller part in Hidden Figures. So we’re shocked that he’s not also blowing our mind on Game of Thrones.

Mahershala Ali explains his terrible audition to Jimmy Kimmel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWzXs7-adBU?feature=oembed

As Ali explains, he was very prepared to audition for the role of a merchant. Ali had memorized all his lines and practiced “power moves” that would land him a gig in Westeros. All he needed was a chair. Unfortunately, HBO didn’t have any chairs in the audition room. It was all downhill from there!

In the words of Ali:

"That was one of the worst auditions of my life."

Luckily, that somewhat terrible audition hasn’t slowed Ali’s career at all. And pretty soon he’ll have his pick of roles! Maybe Ali will end up in Westeros after all.

Filed Under