Sometimes, we're left wondering whether the scripts actors are sent when they're deciding whether to play a part are even vaguely similar to the final script. If they are, then we can't fathom how Angela Bassett got it so wrong when she was asked if she wanted to appear in Monster's Ball. Bassett sounds like she was annoyed by what she read - she thought her character Leticia was a prostitute, and said she wouldn't 'demean herself' by playing such a part on film.
As we now know, Leticia wasn't a prostitute at all - she was just a married waitress who became involved in an affair. Halle Berry was the beneficiary of Bassett's confusion, and knocked it out of the park with her performance. In doing so, she became the first African-American 'Best Actress' winner in the history of the Oscars. That historical achievement could have been Bassett's, and she let it pass her by.