10 Actors Who Turned Down Movie Roles Because Of Spite

Here's a great example of an actor taking their ball and going home that actually benefitted everyone involved - the actors themselves, the studio, and even the viewing audience.

Kirk Douglas was originally offered the role of Ben-Hur's antagonist Messala, but turned it down on the basis that he wanted to play Judah Ben-Hur himself rather than a "second-rate baddie."

But the title role had already been offered to Charlton Heston, who being almost seven years Douglas' junior was deemed a better fit for the part.

Douglas then turned down the Messala role, which eventually went to Stephen Boyd, who won a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for his work.

The kicker, though, is that this really worked out for the best. Douglas' inability to secure the Ben-Hur role motivated him to launch is own epic with Stanley Kubrick, Spartacus, which was itself a massive critical and commercial success.

Because of Douglas' own issues with rejection, audiences ended up with two awesome epics for the price of one, essentially.