Lena Dunham lost part in Riding in Cars With Boys at 12 because she refused to 'smile on command'

The star of Girls could have been Riding in Cars With Boys if she hadn't screwed her audition.

Actress and filmmaker, Lena Dunham, appeared on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show to dish about her new movie, Sharp Stick. At one point, the conversation turned to Dunham's favorite movie, A League of Their Own, and Cagle asked if she ever met anyone who was involved with the film.

Dunham said that she met both Tom Hanks and Madonna, but her most memorable — and disastrous — encounter was with director Penny Marshall. When she was just 12 years old, she auditioned for Marshall's film, Riding in Cars With Boys. Unfortunately, Dunham had a bit of an attitude that Marshall (and likely any director) didn't care for, and the role was given to another actress.

Mike Coppola/Getty Images; Brian To/FilmMagic Lena Dunham and Penny Marshall

"I understand why I didn't get the role," Dunham said on the show, "because she asked all the young actors to say our name, our height, where we were from, and smile...and I said, 'I'm Lena, I'm from New York, and I don't smile on command.' And Penny Marshall said, 'It's called acting, honey.'"

In hindsight, Dunham admitted she's on the director's side: "The thing is, she was right. Would you hire an actor who is like 'I'm sorry, I can't smile on command'?"

Dunham concluded by saying, "The thing is, I'm with Penny on this one. I remember going home and knowing that I had 'screwed the pooch' so to speak, and my mother says that I laid in bed for like a week and moaned 'my career is over.'"

It turns out her career wasn't actually over since she went on to create and star in the HBO hit Girls and has continued writing, acting, and directing since then. Watch the video above for her full story.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• Scott Speedman reveals how he prepared to play a porn star in Lena Dunham film Sharp Stick

• Cristin Milioti and William Jackson Harper on The Resort's mystery: 'You'll never see what's coming'

• The Rockford Peaches return in A League of Their Own exclusive clip