While Leven Rambin may have gotten a dramatic birth scene on Grey’s Anatomy, she didn’t get to rock out as a vampire or rule high society as Serena van der Woodsen.
In a TikTok video posted Wednesday, the Grey’s alum got candid about some of the biggest misses in her career, revealing a bunch of huge roles that she auditioned for but didn’t land.
“I have lost some roles that have made other people literal household names,” Rambin said, while doing her makeup on camera. “I’m gonna tell you about some of the roles I auditioned for over the last 20 years that I didn’t get.”
To begin with, Rambin pointed to Hanna Marin, one of the titular Liars and a fan-favorite character from Pretty Little Liars. The actress noted that the role ultimately went to “my friend Ashley Benson, who I’m pretty sure I saw in the audition room.”
“God, I wanted that role so bad,” she added.
Rambin shared that she auditioned to play another character in a popular 2010s teen drama: the bubbly teen-turned-vampire Caroline Forbes in The Vampire Diaries.
“[It] ended up going to Candice Accola — which is what her name was at the time — who is also a friend,” Rambin said, referencing actress Candice King. “I remember in the audition I had, like, a Southern accent because I thought that would help.”
Unfortunately, that choice didn’t work out for Rambin who said, “The casting directors ended up telling my agent that they didn’t like it.”
Moving onto another role, Rambin said, “This one might be kinda surprising, but I auditioned for Annabeth in the [first] Percy Jackson movie.”
While Rambin didn’t land the role, which instead went to Alexandra Daddario, she did make a big impression on the casting directors, who called her back for a role in the second film. She joined Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters as Percy’s bully and eventual ally, Clarisse LaRue.
“Next up is Quinn FaBray from Glee,” Rambin shared. “This one still sticks in my craw because I wanted to sing so bad, and I loved the little cheerleader character.”
The role went to another of Rambin’s friends, Dianna Agron. “Are we sensing a pattern here?” the actress quipped.
Rambin then revealed the “mother of all roles that went to now household names,” sharing that she went in for the lead role in The CW’s hit teen drama Gossip Girl.
“Serena van der Woodsen. That’s right, your girl auditioned for Gossip Girl,” Rambin dished.
“I remember being in the audition room in New York City when I was probably 16 years old, and I prepared so much for that audition,” she said. “I was so in love with that role, and I remember being so nervous that I sweat through my silk polka-dotted blouse that I was wearing.”
“Obviously that went to Mrs. Ryan Reynolds,” she said, referencing eventual star of the show, Blake Lively. “But that was one that all my agents, everyone, was like, ‘You have to get this role.’ I thought so too but didn’t get it.”
As a bonus, Rambin shared that she also auditioned for Erin Silver in the 90210 remake, which went to Jessica Stroup.
“I wanted to be on The CW so bad. They didn’t want me on there so much,” Rambin laughed.
She concluded by clarifying that there are no hard feelings about any of the missed roles.
“I think every girly pop that got each of those roles is absolutely perfect for the role,” she said. “Everything works out how it’s supposed to, and everything that’s meant for you does not pass me by. Everybody has their own path.”
Rambin’s post comes just a few weeks after the actress — who played Mark Sloan’s (Eric Dane) estranged daughter, Sloan, on Grey’s Anatomy — responded to news of the show’s Texas-based spinoff by campaigning for her character’s return.
“Now, hold on just a minute. Grey’s Anatomy Texas spin-off?” she said in a May 20 post. “Are you kidding me? They were going to try to do a Texas spin-off and not tell me about it? Nope. No, no, no. Mmm, mm.”
“[Creator] Shonda [Rhimes], I’m literally in Texas right now,” she said, pivoting the camera to show off her location. “This needs to happen! This is perfect. We’ve been manifesting this. I think I’ve manifested a little too close to the sun and got Grey’s Anatomy to come to me.”