The Good Wife was nearly a very different show than the juggernaut that won Emmys and topped critics' lists.

Playing the badass attorney and wife of a disgraced US politician was obviously a career-defining role for Julianna Margulies, and one that earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards. But she actually wasn't the original choice.

On Watch What Happens Live earlier this week, a caller brought up the little-known fact that Academy Award winner Helen Hunt was offered the role of Alicia Florrick… and turned it down.

"It obviously was meant to go to the actress that it went to, what with her being brilliant and all," Hunt revealed. "I had a daughter [and] I wanted time with her. What can I say?"

Helen went on to admit that she did regret passing on The Good Wife, but added: "The most successful things I've ever done were turned down by someone else. It all happens, hopefully, the way it's supposed to."

The actress won four Primetime Emmy Awards of her own for playing Jamie Buchman in classic US sitcom Mad About You, and won an Oscar for As Good as It Gets.

Helen is now back on TV for the Fox crime drama Shots Fired, in which she leads an all-star cast including Richard Dreyfuss, Sanaa Lathan and Stephen Moyer.

CBS

The Good Wife wrapped up last spring after eight highly-rated seasons, and has since spun off the new CBS All Access legal drama The Good Fight.

Despite only being part-way into its first season, The Good Fight has already been renewed by CBS. More4 airs the show in the UK.

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