Before landing her breakout role on Abbott Elementary, Janelle James had her sights set on another show.
The Golden Globe nominee recently revealed she once auditioned for Netflix‘s GLOW (2017-’19) a role she’s still “so salty” she didn’t land, nearly five years after the streamer un-renewed the series for a fourth and final season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I haven’t thought about this in a while,” she prefaced on the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast. “Another thing I was excited about that I auditioned for once was GLOW. Do you remember that? The female wrestling.”
Created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) was inspired by the 1980s syndicated women’s wrestling show of the same name, starring Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin and a talented female-led ensemble as struggling actresses who audition for the wrestling show.
“I really wanted that role,” she told host Kelly Ripa. “It was for one of the female wrestlers and we had to make up an ’80s rap and perform it in the audition, and also do a fight scene with ourselves. I did this rap and then I did a round kick. And I remember leaving that audition like, ‘Nailed it.’ And did not get that role.
Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Jackie Tohn, Ellen Wong, Gayle Rankin, Sydelle Noel and Marianna Palka in ‘GLOW’ (Ali Goldstein/Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection)
James added, “I have not watched one second of that show. I’m so salty. Maybe I’ll watch it today.”
The comedian is likely not as salty as fans of the show, after Netflix renewed it for a fourth and final season in 2019, filming two episodes before the streamer reversed its renewal, explaining the pandemic made “shooting this physically intimate show with its large ensemble cast especially challenging.”
