According to American Horror Story casting director, actor Margot Robbie auditioned for the hit show. Robbie has been a big star in Hollywood for several years, but with her success as the lead of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, a movie that continues to break box office records, the actor’s profile has risen even further. But back in the early 2010s and before her breakout role in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Robbie could have joined the anthology American Horror Story during what was arguably the peak of the show’s critical acclaim.

In an interview with Backstage’s In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast, casting director Eric Dawson recalled Robbie’s audition for American Horror Story: Asylum. Dawson, who worked on casting several shows for AHS co-creator Ryan Murphy, recalled Robbie’s 2011 audition fondly. Robbie was best known for her role on the Australian soap Neighbors, but Dawson remembers: “This is a star, what do we do with her?” The casting director’s full quote is below:

“Margot has a lot of ‘it’ factors. That’s the tough thing for casting directors who aren’t in the room [anymore] with actors. Margot is probably one of my favorite auditions of all time, and it was right before she broke out. She was such a star. It was crazy, her star appeal when she walked in the room. Even though she didn’t get that role, that was one of those things as a casting director where you go: This is a star, what do we do with her? Immediately, though, she was out of our realm of possibility of hiring. But that’s really the fun part of casting, is seeing the people whose careers are just rising.”

Robbie Could Have Been In The Best AHS Season

Dawson doesn’t mention which character Robbie auditioned for, but if the actor had gotten the part, she would have joined the anthology during an early peak. American Horror Story: Asylum garnered positive reviews, with many critics arguing that the show successfully blended its outlandish scary tropes with something deeper and profound despite the wild twists and turns that have now become commonplace. This was reflected in the Primetime Emmys that followed, as the season received seventeen Primetime Emmy Award nominations, more than any other show. That includes Outstanding Miniseries or Movie.

The season also featured what has arguably been Sarah Paulson’s best American Horror Story character Lana Winters. The portrayal combines the bizarre, as in a random musical interlude led by Jessica Lange, and the wrenchingly real, as in the season’s graphic depiction of conversion therapy and its evils. It would have been interesting to see how Robbie could have fit into the story, but losing the role also could have inadvertently led to her current career path.

Robbie could have been a Ryan Murphy favorite, for example, if she got cast in American Horror Story. She could have kept working on television, which might mean that she never got the opportunity to star in Barbie. As is sometimes the case with alternate casting revelations, it’s hard to imagine how things could have turned out.