Actors Who Nearly Turned Down Their Iconic Roles (1 Wound Up Earning an Oscar for The Part After Accepting It!)

Actors can really struggle when they’re making decisions about which projects they accept. Sometimes they can make a mistake…

In fact, some very famous stars nearly turned down some of their most iconic roles.

For instance, imagine Wednesday without Jenna Ortega‘s brilliant and dry sense of humor. Pretty hard, huh? What about the Marvel Cinematic Universe without Chris Evans leading the Avengers? Did you know that he tried to turn the role down?

In fact, many actors have come very close to saying “no thanks” to what have become their most recognizable jobs in Hollywood.

Sometimes, the timing wasn’t working out. Other times certain circumstances made it difficult for an actor to imagine themselves playing the character.

As a result, many stars have ended up turning down offers that they might have come to regret. Others reconsidered, worked things out and agreed to take on what might go down in history as their most iconic roles.

We rounded up 12 situations where an actor in Hollywood almost said “No” and looked into what changed their mind. Surprisingly, there are two actors from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, two from The Hunger Games and one who wound up winning an Oscar for the part on this list!

Find out why they initially passed and what changed their minds.

Scroll through the slideshow to see which actors almost passed on their most acclaimed roles…