Every actor will enjoy (and suffer) an incredibly mixed bag of roles in their careers. Often, there will be passion projects that actors will take over more lucrative projects, generally leading to burning regrets on their part. Everyone makes career choice errors, but when millions of dollars and incredible acclaim are on the line, you can bet that the following actors felt the hot sting of regret. Well, at least other actors still enjoyed the wonderful performances that they would otherwise never have had the chance to experience.
Emily Blunt – Gulliver’s Travels Over Black Widow
It might be difficult to picture anyone but Scarlett Johansson playing the deadly assassin Black Widow in The Avengers film series from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the producers had a different actress in mind when they were putting the superhero squad together: Emily Blunt, who would make her premiere in Iron Man 2. When the film Gulliver’s Travels began filming around the same time that the metal-clad superhero film was in the works, Blunt had to say no to the epic franchise. Superfans might not regard Iron Man 2 as the most enjoyable member of the lengthy cinematic superhero ensemble, but given how prominent Black Widow would become in the later films in the universe, you can bet that it was a far more lucrative position than the one in Gulliver’s Travels.
Emily Blunt
Michael Madsen – Wyatt Earp Over Pulp Fiction
Fans of Quentin Tarantino’s bloodily creative masterpieces know that the director has something of a clique of actors that he casts repeatedly. Michael Madsen is one of his most iconic recurring choices, seen in The Hateful Eight, Kill Bill, and Reservoir Dogs. But while Madsen may have said yes to Tarantino’s offers more often than not, he decided that Pulp Fiction wasn’t worth his time in the role of Vincent Vega. Tragically, he thought that his acting skills would be better used in the lackluster western, Wyatt Earp. This wasn’t a decision that Tarantino would take lightly, however, as the director and actor were less than friendly towards each other for some time. Thankfully, they kissed and made up in time for Kill Bill: Volume I.
Michael Madsen
