Aaron Sorkin has revealed movie bosses were so against casting Justin Timberlake in The Social Network that they sabotaged the audition process.
Screenwriter Sorkin said executives were hoping and praying that Timberlake would not get the part of Napster founder Sean Parker, so they had him audition multiple times in the hope he'd eventually blow it.
They feared the singer's international star power would overshadow the quiet drama in the hit film about the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg.
"No one had to work harder or audition more than Justin to be in this movie," Sorkin revealed to NovaFM.
"There was a concern that we were putting together a very balanced ensemble cast. Justin is an international superstar and there was the concern that having Justin in the cast was going to upset the apple cart a little bit."
Movie bosses organised a relentless schedule of auditions to put Timberlake through the wringer in the hope he'd choke.
"His auditions for the part were simply too good," Sorkin conceded.
"I think the reason we kept having him come back in and audition was we were hoping that he would blow it - that he would give us a good reason not to cast him.
"He never did, he just kept getting better and better."
The Social Network opens tomorrow in Australia and is already a runaway hit in the US, where Timberlake has been praised for his role as Zuckerberg's go-to guy in Facebook's biggest growth phase.
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