10 Actors Bullied Into Roles They Never Wanted

There's nothing better than seeing an actor brimming with enthusiasm, energy and passion for a role; most of the time it will show through, and the end product will benefit as a result.

Conversely, though, it's blatantly obvious when an actor doesn't much care for the work they're doing, either churning out another mindless knock-off sequel for the easy money (we're looking at you, Bruce Willis), or sometimes appearing for more nefarious means.

We might think of famous actors and actresses as above being told what to do, but think again. These 10 actors, most of a highly famous degree, were manhandled by the studio system and bullied into appearing in films either due to "contractual obligations" (a dreaded phrase that will appear many times in this article), being guilt-tripped by a filmmaker, or some more bizarre actions that frankly defy any business sense whatsoever.

Here are 10 actors bullied into roles they never wanted...

10. Emily Blunt - Gulliver's Travels

This one must really hurt. Emily Blunt was all set to play Black Widow (a role that eventually went to Scarlett Johansson) in Iron Man 2, which naturally would have led to her appearing in the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time, The Avengers. Fox, however, were up to their usual bastardry, and decided to activate an option they had with the actress dating back to her work on The Devil Wears Prada.

So, what role were the studio so desperate for her to take? She wound up playing Princess Mary in the execrable Jack Black star vehicle Gulliver's Travels, and though she was easily the best thing in it, one has to wonder why Fox were so keen on Blunt to take the part, other than someone at the studio having something against her and wanting to deny her the juicy superhero part?

Though Scar-Jo excels in the Black Widow role, we'll forever be left wondering what Blunt would have been like, and which poor sap would have been saddled with this terrible role instead. Still, Blunt was a sport, and looking at her enthusiastic performance, you wouldn't know she was being basically held at gunpoint by Fox.