John Travolta is one of the most popular actors of the 80s and 90s era. The actor is best known for his work in films like Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Pulp Fiction. He was one of the biggest action stars of the time and was a cultural icon of the 1970s, known for roles in the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter. Travolta is also an expert singer, and some of his albums have features on Billboard Hot 100 list.
Being an actor, one is offered multiple films and shows but cannot take up all of them. Hence, the actors have to carefully choose the roles which would be challenging enough for them. In the same way, actor John Travolta was once offered Tom Cruise’s role in a $1.8 billion franchise, but had to let go.
John Travolta was approached for Tom Cruise’s Top Gun franchise
John Travolta was a big name in the entertainment industry in the 1980s era and numerous of his films were commercial hits of the time. The actor was even nominated for Academy Awards for his work in Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction. Seeing the success of the actor, Top Gun producers approached him to play the lead.
However, some of his films in the 80s had not done well at the box office, hence the producers decided that casting Travolta would be a huge gamble. Another reason for having doubts about casting the actor was because he was asking a lot of money for the role. Ultimately the role went to Tom Cruise, who made it one of the most iconic roles in Hollywood.
Other Hollywood actors who were also approached for the role were Patrick Swayze, Nicolas Cage, Matthew Modine, John Cusack, Matthew Broderick, Sean Penn, Michael J. Fox, and Tom Hanks. All of them had turned down the film.
John Travolta almost starred in Tom Hanks’ iconic film Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is another American classic and one of the most popular movies of Tom Hanks. The film boosted the career of the actor and earned him an Academy Award for the same. Looking back at the film, the role seems tailored for the actor, and no one else could have done it better.
However, there was once a chance when the titular role could have been played by Pulp Fiction star John Travolta.
Speaking to MTV in 2007, Travolta shared he does not regret turning down the part in Forrest Gump. He said,
“No, because if I didn’t do something Tom Hanks did, then I did something else that was equally interesting or fun. Or if I didn’t do something Richard Gere did, I did something equally well. But I feel good about some I gave up because other careers were created.”
Travolta reportedly rejected the Forrest Gump offer to star in Quentin Tarantino’s iconic film Pulp Fiction.
The cast included John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman. The crime thriller grossed $213 million worldwide.
Source- Mamamia
