John Travolta’s Biggest Career Regrets: Three Roles He Passed Up
John Travolta opens up about the three major film roles he declined, reflecting on how these decisions shaped not only his own path but also the careers of other Hollywood stars.
Few actors can claim a list of declined roles as impressive as John Travolta’s. Over the years, the star of Battlefield Earth has been notably choosy, sometimes to his own detriment. While many in the industry would envy the opportunities he’s let slip by, Travolta’s choices have often left him wondering what might have been. He famously turned down Days of Heaven, only to later accept Phenomenon, and his career is peppered with such near-misses. Like Burt Reynolds, who once admitted he probably should have played Han Solo, or Will Smith, who realised too late that The Matrix was a better bet than Wild, Wild West, Travolta has his own catalogue of what-ifs.
One of the most significant examples is his decision to pass on An Officer and a Gentleman, after already declining American Gigolo and Days of Heaven. Richard Gere, as it happens, owes much of his success to Travolta’s reluctance. It’s hard to picture anyone else in those roles now, but it’s equally difficult to argue that Travolta’s choices did him any favours. Had he leaned into the brooding heartthrob image, perhaps the downturn in his career during the 1980s could have been avoided. Instead, he opted for a sequel to Saturday Night Fever and a rather infamous aerobics drama with Jamie Lee Curtis, Perfect, which managed to be unintentionally camp.
Three Roles That Got Away
Although Travolta could fill a memoir with the parts he’s turned down, he’s singled out three in particular that still haunt him. In a 2008 interview, he confessed that his greatest regrets are Chicago, An Officer and a Gentleman, and The Green Mile. Speaking about Chicago, he remarked,
“I wasn’t all that into the stage show. It was a lot of women who hated men, and I like women who like men.”
He was offered the role of Billy Flynn, the slick lawyer who defends women accused of murdering their husbands. Once again, Richard Gere stepped in after Travolta declined, earning a Golden Globe for his performance. The film itself swept the Oscars, taking home six awards, and Travolta later admitted that, while the stage version felt a bit harsh, the film adaptation had more warmth.
When it comes to An Officer and a Gentleman and The Green Mile, Travolta was even more candid:
“I probably should have said yes.”
The latter role eventually went to Tom Hanks, who had just won an Oscar for another part Travolta had previously turned down—Forrest Gump. It’s a stretch to imagine Travolta in either of those roles, as Hanks brings a unique, steady presence to his characters.
Looking Back with Good Humour
To his credit, Travolta takes these missed chances in his stride, viewing them as part of the unpredictable nature of the business.
“I gave Richard Gere and Tom Hanks a career,”
he quipped,
“What you turn down can be a gift to someone else. There is enough to go around.”
Such a generous outlook is rare in the industry, especially considering that Hanks ultimately became a bigger name. Fortunately, when Quentin Tarantino came calling with Pulp Fiction, Travolta was ready to say yes, and the rest is history.