Amanda Seyfried turned down 'Guardians of the Galaxy' role for fear the movie would flop

The role in question: Gamora in "Guardians of the Galaxy," which ended up going to Zoe Saldana. Appearing on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, Seyfried said that the role was hers if she wanted it, but she turned down the offer. One of the reasons? She thought there was a good chance "Guardians of the Galaxy" would flop:

I thought that because this was about a talking tree and a talking  raccoon that it would be Marvel’s first bomb and me and Chris Pratt  would never work again. I was wrong!

To be fair, Seyfried did also say she didn't want to spend hours upon hours getting in and out of the Gamora makeup, and also didn't want to spend months on end living in London to film. Those are both very understandable concerns about taking the role that have nothing to do with being a poor predictor of future film success. On the other hand, she did also say she really wanted to do another movie offered to her at the time: "A Million Ways to Die in the West." Yes, the Seth MacFarlane movie. 

Frankly, with the way the MCU has subsumed so many careers over the years, it's maybe for the best Seyfried got the chance to work on other projects. It's not like her career stagnated during what would have been her run as Gamora. On the other hand, Seyfried only has an Oscar nomination, while Saldana is now an Oscar winner. The power of Gamora? Who's to say?

(h/t Variety)