'The Good Wife's Julianna Margulies Was 'Third Pick' for Playing Alicia Florrick
"The Good Wife" just wrapped its mind-blowing fifth season, and lead star Julianna Margulies has revealed that she was neither the first nor second choice to play title character Alicia Florrick. In fact, she was the third, after two other actresses, but she is having the last laugh, after winning a Golden Globe, Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and a TV Critics Association Award for her role.
"When 'The Good Wife' came to me, it came in such a backhanded compliment," Margulies said during a Hollywood Reporter Emmy roundtable. "They said, 'So Ashley Judd was offered this script, but she's turning it down."
Margulies then learned that Helen Hunt was also offered the role, but that she could have it, provided that Hunt turn it down. That left a sour taste in Margulies' mouth and caused her to have an attitude when reading the script.
"I was then reading [it] sort of already defensive, and I wanted to hate it, because, you know [expletive] you, you didn't want me to begin with. And I'm like your sloppy thirds," Margulies joked.
Five seasons later, the show is still immensely popular with audiences; when lead character Will Gardner, played by Josh Charles, was killed off, fans immediately took to Twitter and social media to see if it was permanent or some type of joke. As it turned out, producers were so uncertain about killing Gardner off that they "asked permission" to do so.
"I don't think they'd have to do this on cable, but we actually had to ask permission if we could kill his character," Margulies revealed. "I think (President) Nina Tassler and (chairman) Leslie Moonves had to OK it, but they loved the idea. They thought it allowed us to keep the show going, but I don't think we can ever quite be as twisty and turny without it getting soap opera-y on TV for some reason, because we have to spread it out for 22 episodes."
Gardner's death was one of the best kept secrets in the TV industry – no one had any clue it was coming, leading to a substantial shock among viewers and a renewed interest in CBS' series.
