Adam Brody reveals he tried out for Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy : 'I wanted that one'

Adam Brody made his superhero debut in the Shazam! franchise, playing the powerful alter ego of Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer). But the actor revealed in a new podcast interview that he actually attempted to enter the genre several years earlier.

Speaking with the Just for Variety podcast in an interview recorded prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Brody revealed that he auditioned to play Peter Quill/Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy. That role, of course, went to Chris Pratt and made him a bonafide movie star.

"I wanted that one," Brody said, though he conceded that Pratt was "better for it than me. He's bigger, stronger. But tonally, I really dug it."

Brody, who originally broke out playing superhero superfan Seth Cohen on The O.C., explained the attraction of playing superheroes on screen. He also said he auditioned for Ryan Reynolds' role in Green Lantern, and was briefly attached to play The Flash in a Justice League movie from Mad Max mastermind George Miller that unfortunately never came together.

"You want to be in one, whether you like it or not," Brody said. "Maybe you have an affinity for it, but either way you need it if you want to have some juice. It's sort of a no-brainer."

Unique Nicole/Getty Images; Everett Collection Adam Brody could've played Star-Lord in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

Other actors who tested for Star-Lord include Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, and Eddie Redmayne. The runner-up was apparently It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Glenn Howerton. "There was a good chance that, if I didn't cast Chris, that I would've cast Glenn Howerton in the role," Gunn said in 2014.

Brody is currently starring in the film River Wild alongside wife Leighton Meester and Taran Killam. Directed by Ben Ketai, the movie is a remake of the 1994 thriller of the same name that starred Kevin Bacon and Meryl Streep. Meester and Killam play siblings Joey and Gray, while Brody plays Trevor, an old friend with a dark past.

"I was a bit worried at the outset that we would take our work home with us, but it was easy enough to switch off between takes, let alone on the way home," Brody told EW last month of working with his wife in the thriller. "But my absolute favorite part of filming was chasing Leighton through the woods at full speed."

Watch the trailer for River Wild above.

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