The role of Sharon Tate in 2019’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” eventually went to Margot Robbie.

Jennifer Lawrence says she lost part in Quentin Tarantino film because critics said she wasn’t ‘pretty enough’

The role of Sharon Tate in 2019's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" eventually went to Margot Robbie.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on *Entertainment Tonight* and Popsugar.

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January 16, 2026 12:15 p.m. ET

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Jennifer Lawrence at the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 11, 2026. Credit:

Amy Sussman/Getty

Jennifer Lawrence has had a lot of career-defining roles, but she'll never forget the ones that got away — especially the part of late actress Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 dark Western comedy, *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*.

The star recently revealed why she thinks she missed out on the role in the award-winning movie that eventually went to Margot Robbie on the *Happy Sad Confused *podcast after host Josh Horowitz mentioned that Tarantino said he wants to work with her. In response, Lawrence recalled that the director actually wanted her to appear in the film alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, who played fictional actor Rick Dalton, and Brad Pitt, who played his stunt double, Cliff Booth.

"Well, he did, and then everybody was like, 'She's not pretty enough to play Sharon Tate,'" Lawrence claimed.

Jennifer Lawrence; Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate for 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'.

Amy Sussman/Getty; Andrew Cooper/Columbia

Although Horowitz was in disbelief, Lawrence was adamant. "I'm pretty sure it is true," she continued. "Or it's that thing where I've been telling the story this way for so long that I believe it. No, but I'm pretty sure that happened. Or he just was never considering me for the part, and the internet just, like, went out of their way to call me ugly."

Horowitz argued the internet would "never do that," to which Lawrence sarcastically quipped, "No, those sweetie pies?"

But Lawrence did recall that she had a chance to work with Tarantino before *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, *when she was offered the part of Daisy in 2015's *The Hateful Eight*. "I turned it down," Lawrence admitted of the role, which ultimately went to Jennifer Jason Leigh. "I should not have done [that]."

Tate's sister Debra Tate reacted to discussions about Lawrence going up against Robbie for the part of Sharon in an interview with TMZ before the film premiered, announcing that she was Team Robbie.

"They are both extremely accomplished actresses, but I would have to say my pick would be Margot," Debra told the outlet in 2017. "Simply because of her physical beauty and the way she carries herself — it's similar to that of Sharon. I don't think as much about Jennifer Lawrence — not that I have anything against her. She's just, I don't know, she's not pretty enough to play Sharon. That's a horrible thing to say, but I have my standards."

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After the film was released, Debra said in an interview with *Vanity Fair* that Robbie's portrayal of Sharon moved her to tears. "She made me cry because she sounded just like Sharon," she said. "The tone in her voice was completely Sharon, and it just touched me so much that big tears [started falling]. The front of my shirt was wet. I actually got to see my sister again… nearly 50 years later."

Jennifer Lawrence at the Golden Globes on Jan. 11, 2026.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Tarantino has previously spoken about wanting Lawrence to star in *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*, but in a different role.

In an interview on Marc Maron's *WTF* podcast in 2021, Tarantino revealed that he "flirted around" with casting Lawrence during pre-production of the movie, saying, "I couldn't be happier with what Dakota Fanning did — it's one of the best performances in the movie. She's amazing as Squeaky Fromme. She becomes her. But early on, I investigated the idea of Jennifer Lawrence playing Squeaky."

"So she read it, and afterward we talked about it a little bit," Tarantino explained, adding that Lawrence came to his house to read the script because he "wasn't letting it out." Though Lawrence was interested, "something didn't work out."

"But she's a very nice person," Tarantino said, "and I respect her as an actress."**

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