It's nearly impossible to imagine anyone else playing Will Truman on Will & Grace, but Eric McCormack initially turned done the role. Jim Colucci, author of Will & Grace: Fabulously Uncensored, told Closer Weekly that "Eric didn't really want to commit to playing Will." He added, "It was only later, while laying in bed at night next to his wife, when he said, 'I think I made a mistake,' and her saying, 'Yeah, I think you did.' He called them and said, 'You know what? I changed my mind.' Luckily the role was still open." McCormack confirmed and echoed the same remarks during an interview with The A.V. Club, telling the outlet, "I knew I was in the running, I kind of pulled back and said, 'I don't want to commit to this.'"
Thankfully, the actor changed his mind and read for the part, which he says was meant for him. "I thought, 'This is me.' He was me in every other way except sexuality. I can be controlling, but I'm a great host. I'm a good friend. I'm a really good listener. Many of my closest friends are women," he told the Los Angeles Times in 1998. "I know gay men and I know there's as much a variety in that community as there is in anybody else."
