10 Movie Roles Originally Intended For Other Actors

John Travolta's career has spanned decades of filmmaking, but he is probably best known for two major roles from the 1970s. The first was Anthony "Tony" Manero in 1977's Saturday Night Fever, which helped to make him a star, but the second, and probably best-known performance was Danny Zuko in 1978's Grease.

That's the role that made Travolta an international star, and despite continuing to work regularly in films today, it's the performance most people know him for. It's one of the most iconic roles to come out of the decade, but it wouldn't be included on this list if it was initially cast for him.

Danny Zuko was originally offered to none other than the Fonz himself, Henry Winkler! It's not that much of a stretch when you think about it. The Fonz and Danny Zuko are incredibly similar characters. Both are greasers who stand in defiance of societal norms, but the casting of Winkler wasn't meant to be, and the reason is due to the similarities between the parts.

In an interview with AARP The Magazine, Winkler broke the news of his initial casting after a 40-year silence:

"I turned down the lead role in Grease. [I] didn’t want to be typecast. But you’re typecast anyway. And it’s not now that I’m like, 'Oh, I should’ve done the role.' It’s that I turned it down intellectually instead of instinctually. Listen to your gut — it knows everything. Your head knows only some things. So I went home and had an orange juice. [John] Travolta went home and bought a plane,"