Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell was director George Clooney's only choice to play Chuck Barris in "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (2002). This film was initially a Johnny Depp project, but when Clooney came on-board as director, he decided that this movie would work better with a less well-established actor in the lead role. Prior to his audition, Rockwell "immersed" himself in the role by watching episodes of The Gong Show in an attempt to impress the filmmakers. "I went to LA [and] did an old-fashioned screen test, like a real Scarlett O'Hara-type screen test, which you know they don't really do anymore," the actor remembered. For research, Rockwell spent two and a half months with Barris. "We went to coffee shops and dinner and movies, took walks, went to the zoo; I even filmed him," Rockwell explained. "I had him tape my lines in a tape recorder, and I listened to that to get his voice down." Miramax was unsure of Clooney's decisio...