The best example I can think of is Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in MCU film The Incredible Hulk.
He very much wanted this role. And you could easily argue he’d trained his entire career to prepare for it. I mean, what actor specializes more in playing mild-mannered characters with multiple personality disorder and anger issues?
But once he had the part, his penchant for rewriting screenplays and asserting more creative controls than most actors ever dream of bit him squarely in the butt.
Sure, the films he’s in are often better for his rewrites and edits, but it has earned him a fairly hardcore reputation for not being a team player. And his perfectionism has led him into lots of conflicts in the past.
In this case, he managed to alienate the film’s screenwriter with his rewrites, which triggered a fight at the Writer’s Guild of America over screenplay credit. And then he refused to promote the film, opting instead to perform philanthropic work in Africa.
In the milieu of MCU, this simply wasn’t tolerated.
So, despite handing in an excellent performance, and everyone fully expecting him to continue the role, he was dropped like a hot potato in future installments of the MCU in favor of Mark Ruffalo.
Sure, he’s argued he quit because didn’t want to be tied to one role forever. But does that pass the laugh test?
By signing onto the film to begin with it was clear he understood the plan for the MCU. And that meant appearing in sequels.
So, at least to my eyes, the whole endeavor seems a wasted opportunity on his part.