The iconic movie role John Travolta turned down
In the 1970s, John Travolta was one of mainstream cinema’s biggest stars, landing his first proper film role in Brian De Palma’s Carrie. It wasn’t long before he became a leading man, earning the main role in Saturday Night Fever, an instant phenomenon. Feeding into the disco craze, people were obsessed with the movie, which grossed $237million upon its release.
As Tony Manero, Travolta earned his first Oscar nomination despite having relatively little acting experience. Saturday Night Fever was swiftly followed by another major success, Grease, which became 1978’s highest-grossing movie.
As Travolta entered the 1980s, he cemented himself as a Hollywood icon, finding even more acclaim after starting in the romantic flick Urban Cowboy. Determined not to be typecast, he then reteamed with De Palma for the critically acclaimed thriller Blow Out.
Yet, it was only a matter of time before Travolta’s commercial acclaim began to wane. By the 1990s, the actor was considered somewhat of a has-been. Although he regained box-office success with movies like Look Who’s Talking and its sequel, the family-friendly movies didn’t allow him to be taken super seriously.
Luckily, Quentin Tarantino was interested in hiring Travolta for his sophomore feature, Pulp Fiction. The director, who had previously impressed critics with Reservoir Dogs, was a Blow Out superfan. In fact, he once declared Travolta’s turn as Jack Terry “one of the best performances of all time”. Tarantino offered Travolta a leading role as Vincent Vega after his first choice, Michael Madsen, was unavailable, but he was still delighted to have the star of one of his favourite movies on board.
His performance earned him another Academy Award nomination and reinvigorated his career, which was much needed at this point. However, Travolta’s career could have taken a very different – and potentially even more successful – turn if he hadn’t passed up another role that same year. The actor was offered the leading role in Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump, which, as we know, went to Tom Hanks.
The movie was a tremendous success, and Hanks won the Oscar for ‘Best Actor’, beating Travolta to the post. Travolta’s decision to star in the independent crime drama Pulp Fiction instead of the overly sentimental comedy-drama Forrest Gump allowed him to ease back into action, thriller, and drama movies.
Pulp Fiction is still adored to this day – it is arguably the most popular movie poster you’ll find in teenage bedrooms and university houses. Loved by cinephiles and casual film fans alike, the movie is celebrated for its stylish blend of violence and comedy. Meanwhile, Forrest Gump has been much more widely criticised for ageing rather poorly.
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