17 Actors Who Left Or Were Fired From A Movie Or TV Show — Right Before It Became A Massive Hit

Recently, redditor u/wlane13 asked people to share actors who left — or were fired — from a successful TV show or movie, and some even discussed how it affected their career. Here are the surprising results:

1.George Lazenby — James Bond

  Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images
Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images

"George Lazenby has to be the top answer. Dude with zero acting experience lands the role of James Bond after Sean Connery, and was offered a multi-film deal to be Bond for the foreseeable future. Then, he was advised that 'it’s the summer of love and nobody is going to keep wanting to see spy movies about killing people,' but also that since he’d already appeared in a film, he could ask for whatever he wanted and they couldn’t turn him down."

<div><p>"They <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=74679X1524629&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Flizmrichardson%2Factors-who-quit-movies-tv-shows&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.express.co.uk%2Fentertainment%2Ffilms%2F1374876%2FJames-Bond-Sean-Connery-pay-Diamond-Are-Forever-George-Lazenby&xcust=7326920%7CBF-VERIZON&xs=1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:brought Connery back;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">brought Connery back</a> for a film instead, and Lazenby’s acting career basically ended on the spot."</p><p>—<a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=74679X1524629&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Flizmrichardson%2Factors-who-quit-movies-tv-shows&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fuser%2Fjock_lindsay%2F&xcust=7326920%7CBF-VERIZON&xs=1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:u/jock_lindsay;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">u/jock_lindsay</a></p></div><span> Mike Mclaren / Getty Images</span>

2.Crystal Reed — Teen Wolf

  Jesse Grant / Getty Images for Paramount+
Jesse Grant / Getty Images for Paramount+

"Crystal Reed was so certain she was done that she had them kill off her character in Teen Wolf — and about 10 years later, she would come back and have them revive her character for the movie."

—u/fthaccount5th

3.Brian Dunkleman — American Idol

  Jason Laveris / FilmMagic / Getty Images
Jason Laveris / FilmMagic / Getty Images

"Brian Dunkleman was cohost of Season 1 of American Idol with Ryan Seacrest, and then quit. Over the years, it has toggled back and forth between whether or not he would have been fired anyway, but in at least one interview, he admitted to quitting and then becoming very depressed over it."

—u/mxcumstein

4.Marcus Chong — The Matrix

  Barry King / WireImage / Getty Images
Barry King / WireImage / Getty Images

"Marcus Chong was Tank in The Matrix — a main character in a HUGE franchise. [Allegedly, there was a lot of conflict and disputes between him and the producers.] When it came time to make the sequel, he was not invited back."

—u/RedditWhileImWorking

5.Jessica Brown Findlay — Downton Abbey

  Mike Marsland / WireImage / Getty Images
Mike Marsland / WireImage / Getty Images

"Jessica Brown Findlay was one of the first people I thought of. She’s done a few things since she left, but none of them seem bigger to me than Downton Abbey did."

—u/HappyPen1422In an interview with Radio Times, Findlay mentioned that she didn't want to play the same character for years and wanted to

6.Chuck Woolery — Wheel of Fortune

  Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

"Chuck Woolery left Wheel of Fortune only to see Pat Sajak host it for over 40 years."

—u/wehotex1Apparently, Woolery wanted his pay to increase from $5K per week to $10K per week, but they couldn’t make a deal, so he eventually left the show.

7.Stuart Townsend — The Lord of the Rings

  Amanda Edwards / Getty Images
Amanda Edwards / Getty Images

"Late to the party but Stuart Townsend was the original casting for Aragorn in the LOTR movies, but the day before filming began, he was fired. Peter Jackson decided he couldn't work with him, Viggo Mortensen was brought in, and the rest is history."

—u/kodman7

8.Terrence Howard — Iron Man

  Unique Nicole / WireImage / Getty
Unique Nicole / WireImage / Getty

"Terrence Howard was in Marvel's first Iron Man and was going to become War Machine — this was the very start of the Marvel movies, the MCU. The recasting was reportedly over a dispute with his salary. Don Cheadle replaced him for Iron Man 2 and all the movies beyond."

—u/daithisfw

9.Lacey Chabert — Family Guy

  Cindy Ord / Getty Images
Cindy Ord / Getty Images

"Lacey Chabert voiced Meg in Season 1 and then decided to leave Family Guy. Then, she was replaced by Mila Kunis — who has made bank between new episodes and syndication."

—u/DeviceAdventurous786

10.Topher Grace — That '70s Show

  Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images
Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images

"This kind of happened to Topher Grace from That '70s Show. He left to focus on movie roles, and went on to star in movies like Spider-Man 3. He's popped up here and there and has steady work, but he definitely didn't launch into stardom."

<div><p>"That being said, that latter seasons of <i>That '70s Show</i> were just plain bad. And he looks almost identical to the way he looked 20 years ago now that he's in <i>That '90s Show</i>. In the end, the dude seems to have made out just fine."</p><p>—<a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=74679X1524629&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Flizmrichardson%2Factors-who-quit-movies-tv-shows&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fuser%2Fforman98%2F&xcust=7326920%7CBF-VERIZON&xs=1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:u/forman98;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">u/forman98</a></p></div><span> 20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Courtesy Everett Collection</span>

11.Chad Michael Murray — One Tree Hill

  Michael Tullberg / Getty Images
Michael Tullberg / Getty Images

"He was so popular up until he left that show and his career kind of fizzled after that. I wonder if he regrets leaving."

—u/teafiltering

12.McLean Stevenson — M*A*S*H

  Bettmann / Bettmann Archive / Getty Images
Bettmann / Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

"He couldn't stand that Alan Alda was the star and not him. I read that he told Loretta Swit that he knew he'd never get anything as 'good' as M*A*S*H again [after he left], but he had to be number one. What he got was Hello, Larry and a ton of appearances on Match Game '7X."

—u/SororitySue

13.Benjamin Bratt — Law & Order

  Steve Granitz / FilmMagic
Steve Granitz / FilmMagic

"Benjamin Bratt left Law & Order to focus on his personal life."

—u/mrsvongruesome

14.Christopher Abbot — Girls

  Andrew Chin / Getty Images
Andrew Chin / Getty Images

"Christopher Abbot from the HBO series Girls, who played the boyfriend of Allison Williams's character, left abruptly [and said he didn't relate to his character on the show]. Adam Driver, on the other hand, stuck it out because he has incredible work ethic and loyalty to the projects he starts, and we all know how that turned out."

—u/Amazing-Pattern-1661

15.Ed Skrein — Game of Thrones

  Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images
Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

"Ed Skrein left Game of Thrones as Daario Naharis, likely thinking that if he starred in the reboot of The Transporter, it would spawn sequels."

—u/TheeFlipper

16.Farrah Fawcett — Charlie’s Angels

  Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Hulton Archive / Getty Images

"She was huge when she left Charlie’s Angels to expand her career, and while she did some interesting and critically acclaimed work, her overall body of work is small and sporadic compared to what a major star she was."

—u/88secret

And finally...

17.Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje — Lost

  Axelle / FilmMagic / Getty Images
Axelle / FilmMagic / Getty Images

"Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played Mr. Eko in Lost, a super compelling character and a fan favorite. He didn’t like being away from London, and he asked for his character to be killed off. I have a feeling he could have been a much bigger actor than he ultimately became."

—u/mourningreaper00

Who are some other actors you remember who unexpectedly quit a movie franchise or TV show? Let us know in the comments below.

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.