Every actor has their fair share of rollercoaster moments, but John Travolta isn’t your average star. His decades-long career has experienced highs and lows like no other.
After featuring in Saturday Night Fever in 1977, his popularity skyrocketed, and hits like Grease, Urban Cowboy, and Blow Out quickly followed. At the time, only a few actors were more in demand than the style-savvy star, who could sing, dance, and portray any kind of character. However, after strings of ill-judged roles and flops in the mid-80s, Travolta found himself out of the limelight.
Often established actors only need one big hit to return to stardom. For Travolta, that movie turned out to be Quentin Tarantino’s blockbuster film Pulp Fiction. His much-loved performance as Vincent Vega once again brought back Hollywood producers to his door. But for different reasons, he failed to properly seize the opportunity the second time.
Why John Travolta Turned Down $17,000,000 Paycheck to Star in Roman Polanski’s Movie
Roman Polanski is one of the most controversial figures in Hollywood, but at the same time, with such esteemed and varied projects in his directorial catalog, at one point, not many actors dared to reject the approach when The Pianist director came calling. However, as mentioned previously, John Travolta isn’t your average star.
After the success of Pulp Fiction, the Broken Arrow actor was reportedly signed on to star in the Polanski movie, which was supposedly titled The Double. It was viewed as a high-profile big-screen adaptation of the similarly-titled novel by Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky.
It’s understood Travolta was set for a payday of around $17 million for his role in the project, which was so advanced that French actress Isabelle Adjani was also cast opposite the superstar of the 70s.
But things fell apart after an alleged fallout between the director and the lead face of the movie. As per E! Online, Travolta was not happy about some scenes being changed without his approval.
“First of all, there were no n*ked scenes in the original script,” the publication quoted Travolta from a separate interview. “Roman added it for no reason. And what’s more, I have never acted naked in my whole career, and it’s not now that I’m fat that I’m going to start.”
The conflict was beyond repair, leading to Travolta missing out on a potential career-defining collaboration with Polanski and a huge cheque.
Did John Travolta Reject Forrest Gump for Pulp Fiction?
Travolta is perhaps among very few actors in the industry whose catalog of rejected movies is far more attractive than the ones he decided to work in.
According to Far Out, the two-time Academy Award nominee was the first choice for Forrest Gump (1994), the movie that transformed Tom Hanks‘ career and made him one of America’s most admired figures for his goofy but meaningful portrayal of the titular character.
Travolta made the decision in favor of joining another project. In the same year, he returned to the big screen as Vincent in Pulp Fiction. Considering the success of the Tarantino-directed movie, turning down Forrest Gump doesn’t seem like a disastrous decision. Still, he missed out on an Oscar award for Best Actor to Hanks, who won the honor for the same movie.
Source: TheThings, E! Online, Far Out
