10 Actors That Gambled Their Careers By NOT Taking Huge Movie Roles

If the news of a different actress playing the role of Mia in La La Land didn't shock you enough, this might.

I don't mean to alarm you La La Land fans, but not only was Emma Stone not originally set to star in the movie, but her leading man was also set to be different.

The year was 2014 and Damien Chazelle's name was all abuzz after the release of a little movie called Whiplash. The film saw a young drummer full to the brim with talent and passion crumble under the pressure of the musical world. The young drummer in question was played by an up and coming actor: Miles Teller.

Together, Chazelle and Teller were at the top of the world, and so it made complete sense for the two to work together again. So Chazelle cast Teller as Sebastian in his new movie across from Emma Watson and La La Land was ready.

Now, while the Emma situation was very clear cut, there are contrasting reports on what went down with Teller. Early reports stated that Teller left the project because they couldn't agree on pay; apparently, Teller's starting pay was 6 million, and the studio would only offer him 4.

But more recently, Teller has stated in an interview that actually things were the other way around and that Chazelle cut him out of the project in favour of Ryan Gosling.

Either way, leaving such a high profile and successful project, and having such rumours surrounding it, led to a dip in Teller's career that he hasn't been able to quite get back from. Whether it was his decision or not, it really didn't pay off well for Teller.