8 Actors Who SAVED Their Careers By Turning Down TV Roles

He may be enjoying one of the strongest spells of his career so far in recent times, absolutely smashing it as an MCU villain, picking up acclaim for his work in Birdman and Spotlight, and even dusting off his cape and cowl for one last Bat-run, but Michael Keaton was in a very different place in his life back in the early 2000's.

Largely disappearing from the mainstream and not exactly bringing in the sort of acclaim and box office numbers he once had earlier in his career, Keaton happily entertained the idea of joining forces with J.J. Abrams on the small-screen as the talented filmmaker looked to unleash his new Lost series on the world.

Only, what at first seemed like a rather intriguing idea, that being showing up as a variation of the Jack Shephard leading role only to be killed off late in episode one, soon began to change as production on the show picked up steam.

Instead of being a one and done appearance, it soon became apparent that Jack would have a much more significant role in the show, and that was something Keaton simply had no interest in pursuing.

And judging from the directions Keaton and eventual Jack Matthew Fox's careers have gone down in the years since Lost became a monster TV hit, it seems the rejuvenated big-screen acting titan was right to steer clear of this particular long-term commitment.