10 Actors Who Passed On Iconic Movie Roles
5. John Travolta – Forrest Gump In Forrest Gump
Love it or loathe it, Forrest Gump is one of the defining American films of the 90's and Tom Hanks more than earns his Oscar playing the titular character as he blindly stumbles through history to the present day.
Hanks’ signature delivery of Forrest’s Alabama drawl is impossible to get out of your head and it’s even harder to imagine anyone else telling us all that life is like a box of chocolates. But it could’ve been so. The role was initially offered to John Travolta, who was in something of a career slump at the time. Despite these circumstances, Travolta still turned the role down in a move that might seem unwise.
Until you discover that he turned it down to go and star in a little film called Pulp Fiction. While Forrest Gump likely would have catapulted Travolta back to star status as well, nobody can really deny that Pulp Fiction also did just that.
And most film critics will agree that Tarantino’s second feature has arguably aged much better than the 1995 Best Picture winner. Make your own mind up on this one.