4. Liam Neeson - Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln)
For many months, Liam Neeson was scheduled to play Lincoln in this epic Steven Spielberg biopic of the inspirational American President. However after hours and hours of research into the role, Neeson (mistakenly) determined that he was too old to do the heroic American leader the justice he deserved. There is also evidence to suggest that Neeson was frustrated with the tardiness nature of the project, as he had been ascribed to the film since 2005 and by 2010, it still looked no closer to being made. So with regret, he decided to leave the film, and instead it was offered to Daniel Day-Lewis, (a man who is only three years younger than Neeson), who miraculously accepted the role. Now of course, he is a shoe-in for yet another Oscar win. Should Neeson have accepted it, the role could well have been a welcome return to the Oscars for Neeson, who hasn't been nominated since his landmark role of Oskar Schindler, in Schindler's List. Whether Neeson goes on to regret turning down this opportunity to reunite with Steven Spielberg, it's too early to tell, but he has publicly given his full support to his friend Daniel Day-Lewis, and in fact it's a true fact that after Neeson decided to leave the project, he personally rang up Day-Lewis to ask him to consider the role.