Adam Brody Auditioned for Chris Pratt's Star-Lord in 'Guardians of the Galaxy': 'I Wanted That One'

Adam Brody is revealing the one that got away, film role edition!

During this week's Just for Variety podcast, the actor shared how he once auditioned for the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy for the role of Star-Lord, which ultimately went to Chris Pratt.

"I wanted that one," Brody, 43, said, but admitted it was a "better fit" for Pratt, 44.

He added: "He is bigger, stronger, but tonally, I really dug it."

Pratt went on to reprise the role of Star-Lord, aka Peter Quill, in the franchise's 2017 sequel and returned for this year's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Numerous stars, including Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zach Levi, were also reportedly considered for the role.

Brody and Pratt's history goes back nearly two decades, as they costarred on the early 2000s teen drama The O.C. together. Pratt joined the hit series for its fourth and final season as Ché Cook, while Brody played one of the leading roles, Seth Cohen, for the show's entirety.

As his breakout role came to an end, Brody met his future wife, Leighton Meester, in 2007 during an outing at Canter's Deli in Los Angeles, when he ran into the show's creator Josh Schwartz, who was just launching Gossip Girl with Meester, 37. The pair didn't officially date until 2013 and married in 2018. They now share two children: Arlo, 7, and a son, age 3.

As for Pratt, the action star married Katherine Schwarzenegger, the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger, in 2019. They share two daughters: Eloise Christina, 14 months, and Lyla Maria, who turns 3 this month.

Back on Just for Variety's podcast, Brody also revealed another role he missed out on — 2003's Gigli starring Jennifer Lopez and now-husband Ben Affleck.

"I remember liking the script," the Mr. and Mrs. Smith actor, who read for Justin Bartha's role of Brian, recalled. "I remember in the end, [Affleck] died in a way that it still stays with me. It's like he's sitting on the beach, he's bleeding out and the sand just comes up and buries him... It was a nice image that they did not use in the movie at all."

Up next, Brody can be seen in the thriller River Wild, alongside Meester. The couple previously worked together in the 2011 indie comedy The Oranges. In the new movie, Brody plays an ex-convict who has some violent scenes with Meester's character. 

“I tried to kill her for a fair amount of the movie,” Brody said on the podcast. “I wouldn’t have picked this for us. It came to me…fully formed from a friend to both of us, but this isn’t something I was looking to do together.”

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Brody doesn't look to Method acting either. “It sounds f---- boring more than anything to me. It sounds ungodly boring, but hats off to them," he said. "Hats off to people that don’t watch their stuff, are Method… I don’t know, is it lacking that I can turn it off so quickly? I don’t know. I’m more comfortable this way. And it just seems so profoundly uncomfortable and also boring.”

The Netflix film, which is a reimagining of Curtis Hanson’s classic 1994 movie, also stars Taran Killam and is co-written by their mutual friend Ben Ketai.