Hollywood’s blockbuster industry never pauses—superheroes, CGI extravaganzas, and billion-dollar franchises fill the screens and the news. But not all actors want to get on the ride. Indeed, some regularly turn down the big-budget offers, preferring to work on smaller, more character-driven tales or projects that reflect their values and artistic sensibilities. Here’s a glimpse at 10 performers who passed on blockbusters—and how their choices remain to influence an increasingly diverse, more significant cinematic landscape.

10. Emily Blunt

Emily Blunt was almost Marvel’s Black Widow in Iron Man 2, but a scheduling issue with Gulliver’s Travels swept her aside. She’s since purposefully steered clear of the superhero path, instead working on original and emotionally resonant movies like A Quiet Place. Blunt has talked about how much she enjoys playing parts that are close and intimate to her, and she’s never second-guessed going around the cape and spandex. Her decisions emphasize the notion that star power does not have to be born from franchise performances.

9. Christian Bale

Though he famously wore the cape for Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Christian Bale has been otherwise cautious when it comes to franchise filmmaking. Following Batman, he turned down James Bond, allegedly worrying it was a British actor stereotype. Bale instead concentrates on role-heavy performances in movies such as The Machinist and American Hustle, repeatedly redefining himself for the story’s sake, not the box office.

8. Angela Bassett

Angela Bassett has long been an advocate of substance over popular celebrity. She passed on Monster’s Ball, fearing its stereotypical treatment of Black women, and tends to be drawn to strong, earthy characters. While she made an exception for Black Panther, deeming it a cultural landmark, Bassett generally avoids blockbusters unless the film has a sense of purpose, and that makes her performances all the more powerful.

7. Paul Giamatti

Paul Giamatti is perhaps the most respected character actor working today—and that’s intentional. He passed up a starring role in The Office, and he’s been unenthusiastic about big-budget franchises, instead playing flawed, captivating characters in movies like Sideways, Private Life, and The Holdovers. Giamatti adds emotional richness to the screen in a way that all too often can’t be done in a tentpole film.

6. Frances McDormand

Frances McDormand doesn’t care about spectacle. Her Oscar-winning performances in Fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Nomadland indicate her passion for close-to-the-heart, character-based storytelling. She’s famous for turning down big studio movies, usually fighting for independent voices and smaller films. McDormand is an outspoken advocate of inclusive and authentic storytelling, both on and off screen.

5. Ethan Hawke

Ethan Hawke flirted with the mainstream (Training Day, for example), but he always came back to the indie world. He turned down a slew of superhero films in favor of working with auteurs like Richard Linklater on passion projects like Before Sunrise and Boyhood. For Hawke, artistic control is more important than commercial success, and his filmography is a love letter to intelligent, experimental storytelling.

4. Michelle Pfeiffer

Following initial success in blockbusters such as Batman Returns, Michelle Pfeiffer decided to move away from the Hollywood limelight. She turned down big rolesincludingd Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, and drifted towards character-driven, low-key stories. Pfeiffer’s recent work indicates a penchant for multilayered, complex characters rather than mainstream success.

3. Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis’s exacting method of acting is widely known, so too is his selectivity. He rejected the chance to play Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings due to a lack of enthusiasm for fantasy blockbusters and extended franchise commitments. Instead, he crafted a career on transfiguring performances in movies such as There Will Be Blood and Lincoln before retiring in 2017 with his reputation as a master of the craft no less well established.

2. Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton feeds on the unorthodox. Famously associated with genre-bending performances and boundary-crossing collaborations, Swinton has studiously kept away from Hollywood’s blockbuster fare. While she finally found her way into the Marvel Universe in Doctor Strange, she did so only after ascertaining the role was in alignment with her values. Swinton remains keen on working on projects that defy convention and push the medium.

1. Viggo Mortensen

Since his memorable stint as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen was besieged with big-studio offers, up to and including the part of Wolverine in X-Men. He turned them down, uneasy about signing on for multi-picture deals and the artistic constraints they might entail. Instead, he’s compiled a string of work concerned with emotional nuance and human complexity, from A History of Violence to Captain Fantastic and Green Book.

Why Their Choices Matter

In a business based on spectacle and profit, these performers remind us that there’s still room for narrative driven by character, not commerce. As Andrew Stubbs-Lacy describes in The Talent Management of Indie Authorship, the indie scene isn’t simply defined by visionary filmmakers—it’s also directed by the agents and producers who assist actors in creating durable, values-based careers. The indie spirit is very much alive, not only in the work itself, but in the way it’s supported and safeguarded behind the scenes. When blockbuster fatigue is a reality and originality is in short supply, these performers demonstrate that sometimes the greatest act of all is to step away from the limelight.