John Travolta made a name for himself with the 1997 dance drama Saturday Night Fever. Over the years, Travolta has starred in several critically and commercially successful projects. His roles in movies such as Pulp Fiction and Grease have immortalized the actor in modern pop culture while also earning him notoriety as an actor.
However, throughout his career, Travolta has missed out on or turned down other roles that could have earned him further fame and respect as an actor. Moreover, the actors who eventually played the parts went on to receive major accolades for those roles. One such role Travolta turned down was in the 2002 musical crime film Chicago. Here is why John Travolta regrets turning down the role.
John Travolta Turned Down Richard Gere’s Role in Chicago
John Travolta has had a long string of success with musicals as he was catapulted to fame with Saturday Night Fever, which was followed by hits like Grease and Hairspray. Therefore, when producer Harvey Weinstein offered him a role in the musical crime film Chicago, it should have been a no-brainer for the actor.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight (via Hollywood), Travolta discussed his career and whether had made any wrong choices with the projects he chose to star in. Travolta stated that the role he regretted turning down the most was in director Rob Marshall’s Chicago.
“Probably the one I didn’t explore enough is Chicago. Harvey Weinstein offered it to me three times.”
Travolta made the above statement about rejecting the role of Billy Flynn, a sweet-talking lawyer, in Chicago.
After Travolta turned down the role, it went to actor Richard Gere. The film went on the gross $306.8 million at the global box office and Gere’s performance received critical acclaim. He also won Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 60th Golden Globe Awards. Chicago won six Academy Awards, making Travolta’s regret over rejecting the role too soon understandable.
John Travolta Explains Why He Said No to Chicago
In the same interview, Travolta also spoke about the reason behind rejecting the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago. Travolta explained that he never met the film’s director Rob Marshall to discuss the role and had a misconception about the original stage play on which the film was based.
Travolta stated the following about turning down the film:
“I never met with the director (Rob Marshall), because I thought the play was about a bunch of women who hated men. and I like women who like men.”
Thus, Travolta’s statement implies he rejected the role because he did not know about the actual premise of the film. The actor also pondered how it would have been to have three of the biggest musical hits on his filmography after Chicago‘s commercial success.
However, in a 2007 interview with MTV News, Travolta exclaimed that he did not have any regrets about turning down roles in movies such as Forrest Gump or Chicago. Travolta was reportedly considered for the titular role in Forrest Gump while he also notably rejected Flight, which eventually earned Denzel Washington an Oscar nomination.
Chicago is streaming on MGM+.
