Erin Brockovich originally wanted Goldie Hawn in the role famously played by Julia Roberts

‘Somebody fun, because I’ve got that kind of zany, crazy Goldie Hawn quality’

Erin Brockovich has revealed she originally thought Goldie Hawn would portray her best in the famous biographical film.

In the 2000 drama Erin Brockovich, directed by Steven Soderbergh, the eponymous role is famously portrayed by Julia Roberts.

Speaking to Vulture, the film’s real-life inspiration divulged that she initially had a different actor in mind.

“Goldie Hawn?” Brockovich said she once suggested. “Somebody fun, because I’ve got that kind of zany, crazy Goldie Hawn [quality].”

Amid the casting process, Brockovich said she thought Roberts would be out of reach: “I mean, first of all, Julia Roberts is never going to do it. She’s Julia Roberts!”

Julia Roberts and Albert Finney in Erin Brockovich (2000) (Alamy)

She recalled the late Ed Masry, her friend and former boss who was portrayed by Albert Finney in the film, joking, “Nah… Her boobs weren’t big enough, her mouth’s not foul enough, it’s never going to happen!”

Brockovich said that when she met Roberts for the first time, the actor broke the ice by saying, “Hi, I’m Julia and I’m so embarrassed, I don’t even have my boobs in yet.”

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, with Roberts taking home the Oscar in the Best Actress category.

Erin Brockovich told the story of Brockovich, a self-trained legal assistant who discovered a cover-up involving contaminated water in a local community which was causing illnesses among its residents in 1993.