How many movie stars from the '80s are still shining as brightly as Tom Cruise? It's a short list. His impressive resume is littered with high-profile projects from the last 40 years, including "Rain Man," "The Firm," and "Jerry Maguire."

As one would imagine for a star of his caliber, Cruise has declined many parts in many movies over the decades, and while some would ultimately be bullets dodged, others would go on to be big hits without him.

Can you picture Tom Cruise as the brilliant mathematician John Nash, struggling with mental health issues in the 2001 film "A Beautiful Mind"? While it may be hard now to imagine anyone in that role besides Russell Crowe, it could have happened. With as many script offers as Cruise has gotten through the years, there were bound to be some that turned out better than he imagined.