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

6. Rob Lowe - Dr. Derek Shepherd (Grey's Anatomy)

Rob Lowe's latest memoir revealed that he was originally offered the part of Grey's Anatomy's Dr. Derek Shepherd, aka McDreamy, which eventually went to Patrick Dempsey. Lowe turned it down as his deal had already been made for the short-lived series Dr. Vegas, though did agree to meet with the show's producers, stating, "I got an urgent call from the producers of a potential new show for ABC called Grey's Anatomy...I had read it and loved it...Grey's was a much better script; in fact, there was no comparison." Though Lowe has enjoyed subsequent success on the likes of Brothers and Sisters and Parks and Recreation, one can't help but wonder if he regrets not accepting the lucrative Grey's Anatomy deal, given that it's just been renewed for an 11th season. Would It Have Worked? Totally. Lowe is an extremely handsome middle-aged man, and pretty much any role he takes ends up alluding to his ridiculous good looks in one way or another, so the McDreamy label would still apply no problem. After over 200 episodes in the role, it may be difficult to imagine anyone but Dempsey playing the part, but Lowe would have been about as good a substitute as we could imagine. Still, we're glad he ended up playing Chris Traeger instead...