Hugo Weaving is probably best known for his role as the creepy, scenery-chewing Agent Smith in the original three "Matrix" films, or maybe for his role as Lord Elrond in the "Lord of the Rings" movies, but it's also worth mentioning his lead role in "V for Vendetta." There, he plays the morally-questionable hero/terrorist, V. The character wears a mask throughout the film, which you might think (wrongly!) would hamper Weaving's ability to give a memorable performance.

But before Weaving could take on the role, V was played by James Purefoy, an actor best known today for his role as Mark Antony in "Rome" and Laurens Bancroft in "Altered Carbon." "V for Vendetta" was arguably a bigger project than either of those shows, so why did Purefoy back out of it after six weeks of filming? It was supposedly because he hated wearing that Guy Fawkes mask. He hasn't...