9 Actors Who Quit Major Film Roles

7. Mark Wahlberg -€“ Brokeback Mountain

Boogie Nights provides comprehensive proof that Mark Wahlberg isn't a stranger to graphic, sexually-charged films, and after coming off the critically-acclaimed I Heart Huckabees, his dramatic star was steadily rising. So naturally come 2004, he was being considered for more challenging stories and chief among them was Ang Lee's epic about the love between two cowboys. Wahlberg went as far as to meet Lee on set to discuss the film, yet only made it 15 pages into the script before he became creeped out at what exactly the director and cinemagoers were going to expect of him if he took the role of Jack Twist.

Now, someone can be the most tolerant person in the world, but there's a difference between being tolerant and supportive and actually performing homosexual scenes that some people aren't comfortable with, and Wahlberg fell into that camp. Being fair, the way Wahlberg describes the tent scene -€“ replete with 'spitting on the hand' and 'getting ready to do the thing,' - it seemed a lot more hardcore and graphic than the tastefully done final version.

Luckily, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were far more game with the expectations, and scored Oscar nominations for their sterling work. However, a little part of me always wanted to hear 'I wish I knew how to quit you' in a Bostonian accent. I imagine it would be quite horrific.