1994 hit Forrest Gump famously stars Tom Hanks, who reportedly took the role an hour and a half after picking up the script.
Most of us would struggle to imagine anyone other than the Castaway star in the iconic role now.
But apparently, just as Al Pacino turned down the role of Han Solo in Star Wars and The Matrix’s Neo was written with Will Smith in mind before Keanu Reeves took the part, that wasn’t what the writers planned.
The character was intended for a completely unexpected actor instead (who turned the part down to star in another iconic ’90s movie).
Who was originally meant to play Forrest Gump?
Grease star John Travolta was originally meant to play the part.
He turned it down to star in Pulp Fiction, which was released in the same year ― that’s why month actors were nominated for Best Actor at the 1995 Academy Awards (Tom won).
Speaking to MTV reporters in 2007, though, John says he doesn’t regret his choice.
When asked whether he wished things had been different, he said: “No, because if I didn’t do something Tom Hanks did, then I did something else that was equally interesting or fun… But I feel good about some I gave up because other careers were created.”
It’s not the only time John turned down a role that ended up going to Tom
Remarkably, Tom Hanks took two other roles that the Pulp Fiction star had said “no” to too.
John was offered the role of Allen Bauer in 1984′s Splash, but said no; Tom Hanks took the part instead. In fact, Travolta told Kevin Hart that the character was “written” for him initially.
He also rejected the part of Jim Lovell in Apollo 13, which Tom went on to take, film site IMdB says.
John has previously explained why he thinks the near-misses were so common.
He said that during the ’70s, “It was just Richard Gere, myself and Treat Williams up for most parts and Tom came a few years later, like ’81 or ’82… those roles would get interchangeable.”
He added, “So in some ways, in Vegas, what’s a one out of four chance.”
