2.
Before starring as Colin and Penelope in Bridgerton, Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton didn’t have a chemistry test, but they spent the years prior to Season 3 building their friendship off-screen, so their on-screen chemistry was incredibly strong.
3.
Scott Patterson and Lauren Graham didn’t have a chemistry test before they were cast as Luke and Lorelai in Gilmore Girls. They met for the first time in a hotel in Canada, and the cast had dinner together before filming the pilot.
4.
Meanwhile, Milo Ventimiglia was offered the role of Jess Mariano in Gilmore Girls after one audition and without a chemistry test alongside Alexis Bledel.
5.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke didn’t do a chemistry read together before they were cast as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon.
6.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey had never spoken before they were officially cast as Joel Miller and Ellie Williams in The Last of Us. In fact, they met for the first time over Zoom during the show’s sexual harassment prevention training.
7.
During the audition process for Bellamy Blake on The 100, Bob Morley said he never had a chemistry read with anyone, including Eliza Taylor, who starred as Clarke Griffin. He actually booked the role within 10 days.
8.
When Dan Levy was looking to cast David’s love interest for Schitt’s Creek, he hired Noah Reid without doing a chemistry test with him. The first time they read together was during the cast’s read-through for Patrick’s first episode in Season 3.
9.
Quinta Brunson actually DM’d Tyler James Williams, asking him to star in Abbott Elementary as Gregory. Tyler revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that after messaging back and forth, Quinta sent him the script, and he said yes, so there was no formal chemistry read process for the two of them.
10.
Despite both of them being veteran actors, Linda Cardellini and Christina Applegate had never met prior to Dead to Me. While they didn’t do a traditional chemistry read, they both had lunch with creator Liz Feldman prior to filming, where she really saw how great they were together.
11.
Zach Braff didn’t meet Donald Faison until the very first table read for Scrubs. Despite having to play best friends J.D. and Turk, they didn’t meet during the audition process.
12.
Katherine Barrell and Dom Provost-Chalkley didn’t meet until Kat showed up on the set of Wynonna Earp for the filming of the second episode when Waverly meets Nicole.
13.
Freddy Carter and Amita Suman didn’t have a chemistry read before starring in Shadow and Bone together as Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa. Amita told Collider, “Freddy and I didn’t get any chemistry reads. But as soon as he walked through the door, I knew there was, at least in my eyes, the perfect Kaz.”
14.
When Stefania Spampinato joined Station 19 after playing Carina DeLuca in Grey’s Anatomy, she and Danielle Savre had never met before, and didn’t do a chemistry read. The first time they met was during the table read for Stefania’s first Station 19 episode.
15.
And finally, Emily Bett Rickards was originally only supposed to appear in one episode of Arrow as Felicity Smoak. She didn’t have a chemistry read with Stephen Amell prior to filming, and their chemistry ultimately changed the course of the series.