8 Actors Who Quit Movies Because Of Seconds Of Footage
4. John Travolta Found The Inverted Plane Scene "Silly" - Flight
Robert Zemeckis' fraught 2012 drama Flight netted a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Denzel Washington, who plays Whip Whitaker, an alcoholic pilot who nevertheless manages to crash-land a plane with minimal casualties following a serious mechanical failure.
As perfectly cast as Washington was in the lead role, the film was actually first conceived as a star vehicle for John Travolta, who is himself a private pilot and owner of four aircraft.
But as enthused as Travolta was with the idea and the character of Whitaker, he took umbrage with one small-but-significant moment from the film, where Whitaker briefly inverts the aircraft mid-flight in order to maintain altitude.
Though flying a commercial liner upside down is technically possible for a short time, it's incredibly difficult and even more so while ensuring the safe carriage of most passengers onboard. Travolta said:
"The funny thing was it was written for me. But it was not written well enough yet - the plane stuff, not the character. I loved that he was an alcoholic and I loved his journey a lot. But the plane stuff was silly, from my perspective...Flying upside down - it's a bit much. I just wanted those bits to get redone. I asked the writer, 'Did you not ask a professional or someone who knew something?' And he said, 'I didn't want any interference - I just wanted the screenplay done. To hell with that stuff!'"