Mark Wahlberg was originally cast as the lead in Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko but dropped out due to creative differences; he wanted the character to have a lisp while Kelly didn’t. The role eventually went to Jake Gyllenhaal.

Ryan Gosling was set to star in Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones but after he gained 60 pounds because he thought the character should be overweight, he was fired and replaced with Mark Wahlberg, leaving him, in his own words, “fat and unemployed”.

Harry Styles auditioned for and got the part of Prince Eric in Disney’s live action The Little Mermaid remake but ended up turning it down for undisclosed reasons. Jonah Hauer-King was eventually cast instead.

Emilia Clarke was offered the lead role of Anastasia Steele in the 50 Shades franchise but turned it down, fearing she would get typecast due to the nudity involved in both this and Game of Thrones. Dakota Johnson ultimately landed the role instead.