10 Actors Who Turned Down The Decade's Biggest TV Shows

Dominic West... you silly, silly man.

We always hear about actors turning down parts and later regretting it, such as Sean Connery passing on Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, but what about in the world of TV? Deciding to take a juicy TV role is typically a much more difficult decision than agreeing to star in a film, because a movie will never take up more of an actor's time than around 4-6 months, whereas a TV series can lock an actor in for 6 months a year for up to a decade, depending on the contract offered and whether the part is adapted from previous material. Still, these actors all turned down roles in huge shows that surely would've given each of them a small-screen boost, especially as at the time many of them could certainly have used the exposure. We're not going to stop there, though: we're also going to consider whether these actors would have been able to fill the shoes of the actor who eventually won the part, or whether it really was for the best. Also, is there any chance any of these actors may have been truly better-suited for the part had they not refused it?
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Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.