10. Reese Witherspoon Respectfully Bowed Out Of Gone Girl
As one of the biggest actresses in Hollywood (not to mention one of the highest paid), Reese Witherspoon is among the lucky few that can pick and choose roles as they please. That's why Witherspoon bought the rights to Gillian Flynn's would-be blockbuster novel, Gone Girl, in 2011: to develop with producing partners a film in which she'd ultimately star. In her position, Witherspoon could have snapped up the coveted role of Amy Dunne without ever considering anyone else - hell, she could've played Nick Dunne if she'd wanted, this was her film - only some advice from the film's eventual director, David Fincher, convinced her to pass and simply remain on board in a producing role. Fincher, as honest about what he wanted from the business as ever, told Entertainment Weekly, "I think it would be awkward to have somebody who is starring in a movie and producing it". Witherspoon has since said, "He told me a vision for what the characters were, and it was very clear that I was not right for his vision". Luckily for both her and Fincher, Rosamund Pike, who was finally cast as Amy and nailed it, to Oscar-nominated effect.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
