'Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide' Original Pilot Secrets Revealed - Famous Singer Almost Starred & 'Big Time Rush' Star Auditioned for Ned

Lindsey Shaw and Devon Werkheiser had to audition a second time, after filming the original pilot

“We filmed this whole pilot, the show gets picked up to go to series, and we’re like, ‘Yay! This is so exciting,’” Devon shared. “But then they tell us, ‘But you have to come back in and audition,’ like in a final round again, ‘Because we might recast Ned, we might recast Moze, we might recast Boogie.’”

They later said it was hard during the months-long period between the original pilot and waiting to hear back for the actual show. The producers also told them that one of the main three was going to be recast.

“It was hard because you couldn’t really audition for anything else, you were under contract for a year,” Lindsey said.

Devon chimed in, “So we’re like waiting to hear if the pilot’s picked up for awhile, you’re not really auditioning for other things, so first, there’s that. We’re waiting for that for maybe six to eight months, and then we get the good news, but, you have to go back in and re-audition and you might get recast, ’cause one of the three is gonna get recast.”

“They said specifically, ‘All three of you are not coming back. Someone’s getting recast.’ It was for diversity, which is totally correct and fair. It’s okay, like yeah, let’s not have three white leads.”