10 Actors Who Quit Major Film Roles
And why they threw in the towel.
Landing a role in a blockbuster movie is never anything less than a big deal. For some actors, it's the break they've been waiting for their entire career and the role that puts them on the Hollywood map.
But sometimes it goes horribly wrong and the whole deal falls apart, occasionally long before the cameras have started rolling.
There are many reasons why a star might walk away from a lucrative film contract, and some of them are noble. Ed Skrein's decision to cut his ties with the Hellboy reboot over whitewashing concerns is one that springs to mind.
Other times it's issues like creative differences or monetary disputes that have pushed the actor in the direction of the exit, and these decisions are regretted as much as they're stood by when the final cut arrives in theatres.
Stars quitting during early development is an issue that has affected projects of all shapes and sizes, from indie arthouse flicks to blockbuster sequels, and here are some of the biggest names that have abandoned ship before production wrapped.
10. Tom Hardy (Suicide Squad)
Tom Hardy loves a good superhero film, having played Bane in The Dark Knight Rises and recently begun filming Venom in the lead role of Eddie Brock, but there's one in his rear-view mirror that didn't pan out.
The inception star was cast in Suicide Squad as the sharpshooter Rick Flag, but he bowed out of the DC Comics project before filming a single scene, and was eventually replaced by Joel Kinnaman.
The official explanation he gave for quitting was "scheduling conflicts" but in Hollywood this is often code for "we're not telling you the real reason".
According to Latino-Review, Hardy's concerns were more about the movie's script than his packed schedule. The final draft he saw is said to have reduced his screen time in favour of beefing up Will Smith and Jared Leto's roles, and Bane was having none of that.
When Suicide Squad arrived in cinemas, bogged down by clunky editing and reeking of style over substance, it became clear that Hardy had dodged a bullet here.