7 Actors Who Rejected Movies For Being Too Evil (And Regretted It)

Now, evil might be a bit of a stretch here, but Russell Crowe nevertheless had a serious moral crisis when he was approached to play Johnny Cash in 2005's music biopic Walk the Line.

In a recent Australian radio interview, Crowe revealed precisely why he turned the role down:

"It was one of those funny things with an internal morality, it was like, 'This is a dream job for me.' ... I'd been playing, singing Johnny Cash songs since I was a little boy. But I felt that I would be then getting stuff that I hadn't earned, that I'd be climbing on Johnny Cash's back to get Grammy nominations or something, it just felt wrong to me."

And so, feeling a sense of ick about riding Cash's coattails, Crowe declined the part, which went to Joaquin Phoenix, who received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his work - and, yes, a Grammy. For his part, Crowe called Phoenix "brilliant" in the role.

Crowe candidly admitted, however, that he does have a "tinge of regret" about saying no to the film, especially considering how well it turned out, adding that he "would have had a great time on that movie."

While it's easy to see Crowe absolutely crushing the part, it's also tough to begrudge Phoenix's mesmerising work in his place.