Ariana Grande expressed her desire to play Glinda in Wicked in 2011 and 2013, and was officially cast in the role in 2021.
Evanna Lynch was a huge Harry Potter fan, writing letters to J.K. Rowling and auditioning for the role of Luna Lovegood, which she landed in 2007.
Rachel Zegler tweeted about enjoying The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in 2021 and was cast as Lucy Gray Baird in the film adaptation in 2022.
Ryan Reynolds was introduced to Deadpool comics in 2004 and felt a connection to the character, eventually playing him in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Channing Tatum has been a lifelong fan of Gambit, trying to play the role since 2006, and finally got to bring the character to life in 2024's Deadpool and Wolverine.
Tom Holland grew up obsessed with Spider-Man, having character bedsheets and costumes, and was cast as the web-slinger in 2015's Captain America: Civil War.
Tom Holland fell in love with the Uncharted game series while filming Spider-Man: Homecoming and eventually starred in the 2022 film adaptation.
Simu Liu created a story bible for the X-Men character Sunfire and self-funded a short film, eventually landing the role of Shang-Chi in 2019.
Henry Cavill played The Witcher 3 game and read the books, eventually landing the role of Geralt of Rivia in Netflix's The Witcher series from 2019-2023.
Sam Reid was inspired by Queen of the Damned and read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series, eventually playing Lestat de Lioncourt in AMC's Interview with the Vampire.