Matt Damon – Manchester By The Sea
Is there anything that Matt Damon can’t do? We are starting to think otherwise. He has shown us his range by starring in Goodwill Hunting and The Departed. While he is clearly a talented guy, he has starred in flops as well. Downsizing is a great example of this. He chose to back out of directing and appearing in Manchester by the Sea. You probably already know that the role instead went to Casey Affleck. What makes this hurt even more was winning the Academy Award for Best Actor with this performance! Ouch.
Tim Roth – Harry Potter
Alan Rickman had already shown all of us that he was a very competent actor even before he was cast to play Severus Snape. However, this clearly became the most iconic role of his career. Instead, this honor would have gone to Tim Roth had he not turned it down to appear in Planet of the Apes. He should have ditched the Tim Burton reboot of the classic and instead starred in the series. Alan Rickman went on to become one of the greatest fantasy actors ever as Apes crashed and burned.