So, the role ended up in the hands of Sam Worthington. Matt Damon went about his normal regularly scheduled tasks, and then suddenly Avatar became the highest-grossing movie of all time in one summer. Unfortunately for Damon, he used that time to finish the Bourne Ultimatum, which flopped HARD.
Charlie Hunnam, Fifty Shades of Grey
Hunnam would have been in Fifty Shades of Grey if it weren't for his insane schedule. Between shooting Sons of Anarchy, and Crimson Peak, Hunnam got overwhelmed by his workload and decided to pull out of one of his projects. That project ended up being Fifty Shades of Grey.
“We both cried our eyes out on the phone for 20 minutes,” Hunnam said in an interview with VMan. “There was a lot of personal stuff going on in my life that left me on real emotional, shaky ground, and mentally weak. I just got myself so f***ing overwhelmed, and I was sort of having panic attacks about the whole thing.” It's a good thing he didn't follow through.
Albert Brooks, When Harry Met Sally
Albert Brooks had his fair share of denied roles. In 1980 he turned down leading Big and Pretty Woman, both of which performed unbelievably well. He passed playing Harry in When Harry Met Sally in 1989 as well. Brooks said that the movie reminded him of Woody Allen, from whom he was trying to maintain his distance.