20 Times Actors Bet Against Hollywood (And WON)
16. John Travolta - Pulp Fiction
When Quentin Tarantino embarked on his sophomore feature, he was determined to get John Travolta to play the hitman Vincent Vega. Travolta was keen, Miramax (the studio) was not.
The 80s had been a less-than-fruitful period for Travolta, with a series of critical and commercial failures sending his acting career into decline. As such, he was not considered a hot property by the time Pulp Fiction was in development, and many did not believe he had the acting range to play Vincent Vega, a bad-ass hitman. He was, back then, best-known for performing for his musical roles in classics such as Saturday Night Fever and Grease.
The movie's producer, Harvey Weinstein (*shudder*) contested the idea of casting Travolta but Tarantino fought for the casting, citing Travolta's role in Brian de Palma's Blow Out which he accurately described as a reminder that Travolta, as inconsistent as he's always been, can be very good with the right material. In the end, Tarantino threatened to walk away from Miramax altogether unless Travolta was cast, so Weinstein relented and Travolta was brought onboard.
In the role of Vincent Vega, Travolta proved Weinstein and all the other doubters wrong. It was pretty much the best performance of his career, it earned him an Oscar nomination and it single-handedly revived his fortunes, with him starring in many other big hits through the 90s and 2000s.