Back in 2007, John Travolta revealed that he turned down the chance to play the lead role in Forrest Gump because he said yes to Pulp Fiction instead. He said he doesn't regret turning down the role because he was happy to appear in Pulp Fiction.
John Travolta was originally offered the role of Forrest Gump, but turned it down to work on Pulp Fiction. Despite turning down roles in successful movies like Forrest Gump, Travolta doesn't feel any regret and is not bitter about his career trajectory.
Robert Zemeckis' Forrest Gump is without a doubt one of the most famous movies of the 1990s, becoming a full-blown and widely-quoted phenomenon in addition to a colossal box office success and awards season darling.
In the early Nineties, Michelle Pfeiffer reportedly turned down a long list of massive roles, from Thelma & Louise and Pretty Woman to Basic Instinct and Sleepless in Seattle.
Tom Hanks: The cherished Forrest Gump scenes that nearly didn't happen
What actress turned down Basic Instinct?
Debra Winger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Geena Davis, Kathleen Turner, Kelly Lynch, Ellen Barkin, and Mariel Hemingway all turned down the role as well when offered by Verhoeven and producers. Verhoeven considered Demi Moore, but ultimately chose Sharon Stone, with whom he had previously worked on Total Recall.
Who was the first choice for the role of Forrest Gump?
Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
The classic role of Forrest Gump was initially offered to John Travolta. He declined the part and has since openly admitted that passing on the role was one of the biggest mistakes of his career.
The truth concerning Forrest Gump's disability has eluded viewers for decades now, with many believing that Forrest Gump had autism. There's evidence for this, among other issues, that the character had, but the exact Forrest Gump condition in the movie is still mostly unknown.
Both Elvis Presley and John Lennon appeared in the movie “Forrest Gump”, but they did not appear together. Elvis appeared through a TV set in a clip from a TV show (Steve Allen's?) as young Forrest and his mother walk by an appliance store.
Dave Chappelle turned down the role of Forrest's friend Bubba Blue. The comedian-actor didn't think the movie would do well and passed on the role but has since expressed regret about his decision (and four years later got to costar with Hanks, this time in You've Got Mail).
John Travolta was the original choice to play the title role and said that passing on the role was a mistake. Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Matthew Broderick were also considered for the role.
What happened to the actress who played Jenny in Forrest Gump?
Wright's role in “Forrest Gump” in 1994 earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Wright's other notable works include “House of Cards” (2013-2018), “Adore” (2013), “Land” (2021) and “Wonder Woman” (2017). She married fellow “Santa Barbara” cast member Dane Witherspoon from 1986 to 1988.
Who turned down the role of Jenny in Forrest Gump?
Jenny was played by Emmy-nominated actress Robin Wright, but as with Hanks, she wasn't the first pick. The studio offered the role to both Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs, Panic Room) and Demi Moore (Ghost, G.I. Jane), who ultimately passed.
It turns out that before it became one of Harrison Ford's landmark roles, there was another leading man the Indiana Jones team were keen to hunt down. That man was Tom Selleck, who has just revealed that he was originally offered the role as the intrepid archaeologist, but decided not to don the famous hat and whip.
Joseph Leonard Stefanelli (born September 11, 1960, in San Francisco) is an American musician and actor, of Italian descent, who is best known for performing the voice of John Lennon in the 1994 film Forrest Gump.
In the book that's the sequel to Forrest Gump, Gump and Co., author Winston Groom reveals that Jenny died of hepatitis C, a bloodborne illness which would probably have been the result of her intravenous drug use during her hippie years.
Bubba, a Southern Black man with Autism-spectrum disorder, appears in the most substantially fleshed out historical event in Forrest Gump: the Vietnam War. After enlisting in the 47th Infantry Regiment in 1967, Forrest is onboard the bus to basic training when he meets Bubba, who offers him a seat.
Why did Jenny leave Forrest before he went on the long run? She recognised the innocence and purity of Forrest and all his actions and due to her childhood trauma that had caused her to have a tough life she did not want to burden Forrest with the same suffering.
13. John Travolta as Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump. Tom Hanks won his second Academy Award for playing the kind-hearted, naïve living legend in Robert Zemeckis's classic 1994 film. But Hanks wasn't the first choice; John Travolta was initially offered the role but declined it in favor of another major project.
Molly Ringwald turned down the lead role in "Pretty Woman" because she thought the story was "icky." "Julia Roberts was wonderful in it," Ringwald said in a recent interview with The Guardian. In 2012, Ringwald said she was in casting talks in the film's early stages, but didn't recall turning it down.
And just one of the challenges she faced was learning how to wield Selina Kyle's whip, which Pfeiffer credited to her teacher, Anthony Delongis, a fight choreographer and movement teacher at UCLA.
In the third and final season of the Batman series, Eartha Kitt took over the role of Catwoman. Though she only played the character for one season, it had a lasting impact on the Batman franchise and future superhero projects, as she was the first Black actress to portray the character.
