Marcia Cross has missed out on a dream role in a touching new movie because she's too famous. Cross asked her agent to call director Shane Stanley and request a lead role in his new movie “Corners” the day after picking up a Golden Globe Award earlier this year - but her joy was shattered when Stanley turned her down flat.

Ironically, Stanley, whose prison sports documentary has been turned into America's number-one movie Gridiron Gang, had Cross in mind for one of the smaller characters in the film, about a community dealing with Down Syndrome, but he couldn't give the TV star the lead.

Stanley says, "I was flattered but I really wanted my three leads to be unknowns. It rarely works when you try to put high-profile TV stars in small-budget real-life movies. It's ironic because I had written a part with Marcia in mind before Desperate Housewives took off, and I wanted her for the smaller part. Her manager called and said Marcia would be perfect for the lead; I said, 'I'm not interested.' I want this film to be like Sling Blade, which was a hit partly because Billy Bob Thornton, at the time, wasn't a household name."

The $1 million project will star real-life Down Syndome actor Kevin Ewing and a string of big-name cameos, including Dylan McDermott and Louis Gossett Jr.

- Marcia Cross pictures
- Desperate Housewives photos

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)