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Topics: BBC, Celebrity, TV, TV and Film
Anish Vij
Topics: BBC, Celebrity, TV, TV and Film
The A-list actor who went for an audition on Only Fools and Horses wasn't offered the role because she was 'too glamorous' for Rodney.
Back in the day, Only Fools and Horses was, of course, the best British sitcom on telly when it first aired back in 1981 on the BBC.
The Peckham-based show - lasting seven seasons and a bunch of Christmas specials - followed the Trotter family in their quest to get-rich-quick.
Fast-talking market trader Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter was played by David Jason, while Nicholas Lyndhurst took on the role of his younger brother, Rodney Trotter.
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They lived together in a council flat with their Grandad (Lennard Pearce) and later Uncle Albert (Buster Merryfield).
In and amongst it all was Cassandra Parry, who went on to marry Rodney later in the show.
After making her Only Fools and Horses debut in 1989, Gwyneth Strong's portrayal seemed a perfect fit for the younger Trotter brother.
However, author Mike Jones, who appeared in Channel 5 documentary Only Fools and Horses: Secrets and Scandals, has revealed that Elizabeth Hurley auditioned for the part.
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He explained: "She auditioned for the role and it was felt that perhaps she was probably a little too glamorous for…how can I say it diplomatically? Our lanky Trotter brother."
Instead, the characters met in the sixth series of the show, getting married and having a daughter together, named Joan.
Cassandra and Rodney met when the latter accidentally took her coat, which looked like his, and later went dancing in a nightclub where they found a connection with each other.
After the two got married, Rodney finally moved out of the flat that he shared with brother Del Boy.
Meanwhile for Hurley, the model/actor became famous in the early 90s through her relationship with Hugh Grant.
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Her breakthrough film role came in 1997, when she starred as Vanessa Kensington in spy comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, alongside Mike Myers.
She also became the face of Estée Lauder, a role she held for many years.
Had she played Cassandra, her career could have looked very different.
For Strong, she is perfectly happy to always be known for her part in Only Fools and Horses.
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“It was a fantastic experience for me. I love that show and I loved being in it. It’s only ever been something positive in my life - it’s opened a lot of doors for me,” she told the Bury Times in 2019.
“And the reaction I get from the public is always so positive, I don’t think you can complain about that. You just have to embrace it.”