The 2002 romantic drama Tuck Everlasting tells the story of a young girl named Winnie Foster (Alexis Bledel), who runs away from home after her parents tell her that they’re sending her to a boarding school. While walking through the woods, Winnie encounters and falls in love with Jesse Tuck (Jonathan Jackson), whose entire family was granted immortality years earlier by drinking from a magic spring. Rounding out the cast are William Hurt and Sissy Spacek as Jesse’s parents, and Ben Kingsley as The Man in the Yellow Suit. But under different circumstances, the film might’ve also featured appearances from the stars of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
In the inaugural episode of The Always Sunny Podcast, which debuted in 2022, Always Sunny cast members Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day reflected on how they got to know each other back in the day. Although Day recalled meeting McElhenney on a flight as they were heading to the same audition, the trio revealed that the first time all three of them were together was when they were trying out for Tuck Everlasting. It’s not clear what part(s) they were auditioning for, but seeing as how they’re not too far off in age from the actors who played Jesse and his older brother, Miles, it’s a safe bet they were considered for one of those two roles. Needless to say, none of them ended up in the movie.
The Audition Didn’t Land Anyone Roles, but It Did Lead to ‘It’s Always Sunny’
However, the three became friendly and started hanging out from that point forward, which may or may not have had something to do with the fact that they kept running into each other at auditions. Howerton and Day, for example, both tested for That ‘80s Show, a short-lived attempt at cashing in on the success of That ‘70s Show. Only Howerton got the gig, but the series was canceled after only 13 episodes due to low ratings.
At one point, Day remembered commiserating with McElhenney about how they were auditioning for projects that weren’t very funny. Looking at the big sitcoms back then—like Frasier and Friends—the two felt that they came across as sanitized because of the typical TV rules of the time. As Day was on vacation, McElhenney and Howerton wrote a scene in which Howerton comes to borrow sugar from Day and finds out he has cancer. After playing around with the concept a bit, the three eventually developed it into the pilot for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
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