20 Actors Who Turned Down Major Movie Roles

Clint Eastwood's 2004 Best Picture winner was almost completely different. Early in the film's development, actress Sandra Bullock was reportedly in talks to star in the boxer flick. It later emerged, long after the film's release, that she was the one trying to get the film made, but at the time producers were hesitant because "female boxing movies don't sell."

Despite trying to get the project off the ground, and at one point having a willing director on board, it was never realised and Bullock dropped out of the project.

Eventually, Eastwood displayed interest in directing and starring in the film, and went on a crusade to persuade several different studios to let him make it. The film was funded and produced by Lakeshore Entertainment and Warner Bros, with Hilary Swank - who would win an Oscar for her performance as Maggie Fitzgerald - in the leading role.

The film won four Oscars, and Bullock has said she doesn't mind it went ahead without her. Bullock would go on to win an Oscar for the Blind Side and surprise fans with a great performance in Gravity, so it doesn't seem to have massively effected her career.