10 Actors Who Quit Major Film Roles
5. Christian Bale (Steve Jobs)
Fresh off the back of Christopher Nolan's acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy, Christian Bale ditched Batarangs and Batmobiles for iPhones and Apple Macs by signing up for the lead role in Danny Boyle's biopic about tech pioneer Steve Jobs.
Bale was gearing up to shoot the film, but abruptly dropped out, deciding he as "not right for the part after much deliberation".
The plot thickened when reports that the entrepreneur's widow Laurene Jobs called up Bale and begged him not to take the part, a stunt she is also rumoured to have pulled with Leonardo Di Caprio when he was linked with the film.
Big names were linked with filling the Bale-shaped hole, including Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper and Ben Affleck, but the role of Jobs ultimately went to Prometheus star Michael Fassbender.