Every day in Hollywood, the very best actors are offered multiple roles in big screen projects in pre-production. As would be expected, many of those offers are turned down for various reasons.Those that make headlines usually involve instances where the movies are made with someone else and end up becoming a massive commercial and / or critical success after being released.Will Smith famously turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix, which ultimately went to Keanu Reeves. Smith has stated that he regrets saying no to the part, but at the time he was concerned about the science fiction genre and the potential for the film to flop.Tom Selleck, Emily Blunt, Meg Ryan and Robert De Niro are all examples of stars who refused to star in films that would eventually become classics.On the other side of that coin are the projects that are rejected by actors, and end up flopping anyway. For every actor who regrets turning down a big role, there are perhaps numerous others grateful they said no to a bad one. John Travolta is one of those who can actually count themselves on both lists.
John Travolta Was Set To Star In A Roman Polanski Film Titled The Double
Following early success in his career during the 1970s and early ‘80s, John Travolta's career went through a bit of a lull in the build-up to the 1990s. Thankfully, he experienced a resurgence starting 1989, when he starred alongside Kirstie Alley in Look Who’s Talking.
His portrayal of Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction about five years later earned him widespread critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for “Best Actor.” The film was a smashing commercial and critical success, and it helped to re-establish Travolta as a leading actor in Hollywood once again.
It was in the aftermath of this renaissance that the actor was reportedly signed on to an upcoming film by Roman Polanski. The director was going through something of a fallow period himself. Some of his immediate previous movies at the time included Bitter Moon and Death and the Maiden.
The motion picture that Polanski is said to have been working on was titled The Double, which was meant to be a big screen adaptation of the similarly-titled novel by Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky.
John Travolta Quit The Project After Falling Out With Roman Polanski
Plans for the production of the film titled The Double were said to be so advanced that even French actress Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adèle H., Possession) was also cast in a main role alongside John Travolta. Agents of the Saturday Night Fever star were reported to have secured him a $17 million contract for the role.
Although details of the apparent fallout were not widely publicized, The Irish Times reported that Roman Polanski had in fact fallen out with Travolta, and that the actor had stormed off the Paris-based set of the movie before quitting the gig altogether.
E! Online delved deeper into the alleged feud, reporting that Travolta was unhappy about scenes being altered without his consent – including one instance where a nude scene was added sans his approval.
“First of all, there were no naked scenes in the original script,” the publication quoted Travolta from a separate interview. “Roman added it for no reason. And what's more, I have never acted naked in my whole career, and it's not now that I'm fat that I'm going to start.”
The Double Is Not The Only Film John Travolta Said No To
According to the E! Online report, John Travolta even went as far as offering $3.5 million – supposedly to the producing studios – to have Roman Polanski removed from the project. Details of how exactly things unfolded in the end remain sparse, but what is certain is that with all these challenges, the movie was never made.
This is one instance where Travolta can likely look back on the decision without any sense of regret. The same cannot exactly be said of his refusal to take the leading role in the classic comedy-drama film Forrest Gump, which ultimately went to Tom Hanks.
Still, the only regret Travolta might have had on that occasion was regarding the timing. While saying no to Forrest Gump, he instead starred in Pulp Fiction. Both movies were major successes, and the actors received widespread acclaim for their performances.
They would come up against each other in the “Best Actor” nomination category at the 1995 Academy Awards. And although Hanks emerged triumphant on that occasion, Travolta would have nonetheless felt vindicated in his decision.