Kurt Russell turned down lead role
Reportedly, Kurt Russell turned down the role of Flash Gordon (1980) because he disliked the slapstick carefree nature of the film, and he did Escape from New York (1981) instead.
That makes sense because he was still trying to distance himself from his goofy Disney child star persona and be taken more seriously as an actor.
But then a few years later he made Big Trouble in Little China (1986), which had the same slapstick carefree nature as Flash Gordon.