One Of Harrison Ford’s Shrinking Co-Stars Had A Horrible Indiana Jones Audition

Bill Lawrence’s “Shrinking” features an incredible band of actors, including their dream casting of Harrison Ford as the show’s aging but sharp therapist, Dr. Paul Rhoades. In another time, however, Ford might have shared the screen with one of his co-stars much sooner in one of his most iconic films, if only the co-star in question hadn’t been suffering from a rough morning due to the night before.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Wendie Malick, who plays Paul’s love interest on the show, Dr. Julie Baram, revealed that she once auditioned for a part in a then-upcoming adventure film being handled by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas called “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” As Malick recalls, “I get this call: Steven Spielberg, who I don’t think I knew who he was at that time, and this guy, George Lucas. They want you to come in to meet them. It was Valentine’s Day. I was wearing a red hoodie and red jeans with hearts all over the front and I didn’t know what I was going in there for.”

Understandably, it’s hard to predict just how big a film can be and what might be a career-changing role when it’s on the radar. “We just talked, and they put me on film. We laughed and had a lovely time for, I don’t know, like, 45 minutes or something.” Unfortunately, the audition didn’t go the way she hoped, mainly because she was battling a hangover and headache that came with it.

Malick got some script pages and was asked to come in the following Monday to audition for Marion Ravenwood. Presumably because she was so excited about the offer, Malick said she “got completely snookered that night” and was shocked to discover that the timeline changed for the audition. “I think I got stoned. I was drinking. I was just like, ‘Ahhhh! This is it!'” the former “Just Shoot Me” star explained. “And then they called me, like, the next morning and said, ‘Can you go in, like, now?'”

Try as she might, the resulting audition didn’t go the way Malick wanted. “And I wasn’t prepared. I hadn’t done anything. I was at my boyfriend’s house, I didn’t have the right clothes, I didn’t have anything, and I just really sucked at that thing. And when I saw the movie, I thought, ‘Oh, I would’ve killed in that.'”

Thankfully, Malick isn’t bitter about missing out and acknowledged that Karen Allen, who would appear in “Raiders,” “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” as well as the perfect ending of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” did the role justice. “Karen’s lovely, but I just was really p****d off at myself. So that was the one I blew, and it was really sad.” Now, at least, she’s working together with Ford, portraying a very happy couple in a glimpse of what could’ve been a very different Indy and Marion, on one of the best shows on Apple TV+.