John Travolta is one of the most remarkable actors in Hollywood, and he is an interesting character both on and off-screen. He is one of the most popular actors of the 80s and 90s era, majorly responsible for box office hits, and he is known for his roles in movies such as Saturday Night Fever, Pulp Fiction, Swordfish, and many more. Due to his reputation of constantly giving box office hits, he became a cultural icon for his roles in several popular TV Series like Welcome Back, Kotter, Dallas, and many more.
The Carrie actor’s reputation is built on being selective about his projects, a belief that stems from his ideology of creating quality films rather than making money. However, John Travolta would regret his decision to turn down the 2012 thriller, Flight because he thought it was not well written until it was nominated for two Oscars.
John Travolta Regrets Rejecting Flight For His Stern Belief
During an exclusive interview with Contactmusic, John Travolta stated that the 2012 drama film was written especially for him. It featured a hung-over alcoholic airplane pilot attempting an over-the-top maneuver to save the lives of the passengers present on board.
But he rejected the role because the plane commercial plane was supposed to fly upside down, spin around, and make the landing. The stunt was scientifically impossible to pull off. The Phenomenon actor is a trained and licensed pilot, the gravity-defying scene made him listen to his gut and reject the role.
“The funny thing was it was written for me. But it was not written well enough yet—the plane stuff, not the character. I loved that he was an alcoholic and I loved his journey a lot. But the plane stuff was silly, from my perspective. Flying upside down—it’s a bit much.”
He continued that he asked the writer to change the silly scene, making it realistic would interest him to play the role in the film. But the writer of the film was not ready to listen to him and continue with what he had written.
I just wanted those bits to get redone. I asked the writer, ‘Did you not ask a professional or someone who knew something?’ And he said, ‘I didn’t want any interference—I just wanted the screenplay done. To hell with that stuff!’”
Sadly, it turns out that Travolta’s gut was wrong as Denzel Washington bagged the role of Captain Whip Whitaker, the hungover pilot who did the silly stunt was loved by the critics and audiences as the film earned $160.5 million at the worldwide box office, and additional sale of $33.3 million in DVD sales, and it was nominated for two Academy Awards.
John Travolta Has No Remorse On Rejecting Forrest Gump
Tom Hanks’ performance in Forrest Gump is outstanding, and with a gripping plot, it becomes an American classic. The film shot the actor into the limelight, and he also won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the film. Looking back at this movie, one would say that it is impossible to imagine someone else in the role.
But it turns out that the titular role would have been played by the Broken Arrow actor. During an exclusive interview with MTV in 2007, Travolta stated that he does not regret turning down the part in Forrest Gump as it helped to build Tom Hanks’ career.
“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.”
It was reported that he rejected the role in Forrest Gump so that he could star in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, which was another iconic film, earning $213 million worldwide at the box office.
Flight can be rented on AppleTV.
Source: Contactmusic
