The movie that was only made to spite John Goodman: “To put it mildly, we went ballistic”
Unlike many other high-profile actors who struggled with addiction issues for years and frequently made the lives of their co-stars, directors, and colleagues a misery on set, John Goodman never wavered from living up to his name as a good man.
Sure, he’d lose his shit on a weekly basis on the Roseanne set and scare the living daylights out of everyone in his orbit, but his anger and frustrations were never directed towards them. Certain stars have brought their demons with them to work and let the folks in their orbit share the misery, but Goodman largely kept his behind closed doors.
Ever since he first rose to prominence in the 1980s, nobody in Hollywood has had a bad word to say about him. Not only is he one of the most versatile, watchable, and in-demand character actors of the modern era, but he seems to be an all-around swell fella, which is enough to make anyone wonder why an entire movie would be made in an attempt to stick it directly to him.
As it turns out, the answer is one of Hollywood’s most reliable issues: contractual disputes. According to the producer, Lawrence A Lyttle, Goodman had agreed to headline a biographical drama about the legendary baseball player, Babe Ruth, in the late ’80s, before backing out when Roseanne and his big-screen career took off.
“I received a phone call from Goodman’s agent, who informed me that Universal Pictures had a Babe Ruth script,” he explained to Deseret. And that they had received an extraordinary offer and financial terms. Substantially more than we were paying him. And, see you later. And to put it mildly, we went ballistic.”
He obviously wanted to play the part, but when the promise of a wide theatrical release and a bigger payday was placed on the table in front of him, Goodman backed out of director Mark Tinker’s made-for-TV production and signed on for Arthur Hiller’s silver screen exclusive as well, and for more money.
The one that Goodman did star in, The Babe, was shot from May to July of 1991. Meanwhile, the one that he didn’t, Babe Ruth, cast Stephen Lang as his replacement, started principal photography in the exact same month, and premiered on NBC in October, six months before Goodman’s movie was released in cinemas.
It was a concerted effort to beat the actor at his own game; if he didn’t want to headline Lyttle’s biopic, then he’d make damn sure audiences got to see his one first. It was a spiteful move, but since he’d been jilted by the sitcom favourite and had the project lined up and almost ready to go, he was within his rights.
In what may have been karmic justice, Goodman’s The Babe fell short of expectations at the box office and among critics. In what scans as even more of a moral victory for Lyttle, the leading man has since admitted that he wishes he could do the entire performance over again, because, unlike Ruth, he doesn’t think he knocked it out of the park.
