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Q: Is it true that Julia Roberts almost wasn't in "Steel Magnolias"? I can't imagine it without her.

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

Can you imagine it with Meg Ryan instead? How about Winona Ryder?

Julia Roberts, a couple of years before her star-making role in "Pretty Woman" (1990), was actually the third choice to play Shelby in the landmark 1989 dramedy "Steel Magnolias."

Reportedly, the filmmakers first wanted Winona Ryder, who was coming off a big 1988, having starred in hits "Beetlejuice" and "Heathers." But the producers figured she was too young for the part.

And so they offered the part to Meg Ryan. Unfortunately for them, they did it on the same day she got another offer — the lead in what would become her own star-making film, "When Harry Met Sally" (which also came out in 1989).

It was only then that they gave Julia Roberts her shot. But as soon as she arrived for her audition, the film's writer, Robert Harling, who had based the story partly on his own sister's life, was sold. "She walked into the room and that smile lit everything up and I said, 'That's my sister,' so she joined the party and she was magnificent."

He wasn't the only one who fell in love with Roberts in the role. She was eventually nominated for an Oscar for the role and won a Golden Globe, among other accolades.

 

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