A Star Wars actor almost starred in Netflix's “Rebel Ridge” before Aaron Pierre

Actors pull out of projects all the time, for a variety of reasons. “Scheduling conflicts” and “creative differences” are two of the most commonly cited, but in most cases, when it's announced that an actor is parting ways with a film or TV series, they pull out before filming has even begun. Sometimes they pull out dangerously close to production, as was the case when Joaquin Phoenix dropped out of a Todd Haynes film last month less than a week before shooting was set to begin (and he could potentially face legal action for quitting so close to filming).

But in 2021, something even more unusual happened: actor John Boyega left production of writer-director Jeremy Saulnier's Netflix action thriller “Rebel Ridge” one month after filming began. Such an exit is extremely rare in modern Hollywood and led to the film being canceled so Saulnier could find a new lead actor.