MovieChat Forums > American Gigolo (1980) Discussion > John Travolta as Julian Kaye, No Way!

John Travolta as Julian Kaye, No Way!

posted 18 years ago by tbirdman-1
24 replies | jump to latest

Lorenzo D.

I'd heard many years ago that the producer(s)of "American Gigolo"

had tried to cast John Travolta to play male prostitute Julian Kaye

for the lead male role. However Travolta was already committed to

"Urban Cowboy" which was going to be filmed in Houston & Pasadena,

Texas. At the time in 1980 he was very hot after making two back

to back hit movies in "Saturday Night Fever" & "Grease." However

his next film "Moment By Moment" which I and many others to this

day have never seen turned out to be a huge box office failure.

Because of the actor's then unavailability Richard Gere was cast

for Gigolo and in my opinion he was just quite perfect for the

role! Travolta would've been a huge mistake and very miscast as well!

And if he'd played the role then the film would've turned out very

different than the known end result. This is definitely one of

Gere's best early roles and one of his best performances of his career!

And a very visually stylish movie as well.

LorenzoSunnyFlorida

I'm James "Sonny" Crockett!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] MALENIUXRIVERS 17 years ago

i´m sure travolta could have been a great Julian Kay , but we didn´t have the chance to see him...we only saw richard gere, and he did a great job in this movie and it´s such a great classic ....so how knows, we can´t give an opinion.

[–] ODDBear 17 years ago

Richard Gere was the third choice to play the role. After Travolta turned it down the producer's tried to get Christopher Reeve. He turned it down as well and in stepped Gere.

[–] tbirdman-1 17 years ago

Lorenzo D.

Very interesting fact, you're the second person who has responded to my

post with this same bit of trivia. Did you know that Patrick Wayne the

son of the late John Wayne was offered the role of Superman for the

first movie and he turned it down thus it went to Christopher Reeve?

I read this on imdb board for Patrick Wayne.

LorenzoSunnyFlorida

I'm James "Sonny" Crockett!

[–] kurtwkrug 17 years ago

actually, travolta was cast, all the armani suits were tailored for him, but 10 days before the start of shooting he bailed.he didn't see eye to eye with paul schrader.gere was offered the role(after reeves)but only had a week to prepare.with travolta it would've been a different movie, but hard to see anyone but gere in the role.(has anyone heard of a possible remake in the works?i thought i had heard brad pitt acquired the rights)

[–] tbirdman-1 17 years ago

Lorenzo D.

Very interesting trivia and I've always understood that Travolta wasn't

available for the role due to his commitment to making "Urban Cowboy"

and the scheduling conflict of the two films. Cowboy was due to be

filmed in Pasadena & Houston, Texas and Gigolo was set in Palm Springs

and W. Los Angeles. I've never heard before of the actor not wanting

to work with director Paul Schrader. And yes had it been John Travolta

instead of Richard Gere it defnitely would've been a very different

movie altogether! Gere just played the role so perfectly.

LorenzoSunnyFlorida

I'm James "Sonny" Crockett!

[–] chelseaal 17 years ago

I recall some promo pics of Travolta in Armani, I'm sure they were stills for American Gigolo, but its nearly 30 years ago.........my marbles ain't what they used to be

[–] tbirdman-1 17 years ago

Interesting post, I wish there were a way for me to see those promo
pics of Travolta in Armani duds. As much as I like him and
Richard Gere I do know that with JT in the role of Julian Kaye it
would have been a very different film than we know it.

LorenzoSunnyFlorida

I'm James "Sonny" Crockett!

[–] glennh69 16 years ago

IMO, Gere possesses a physical boyishness that Travolta would be lacking. This is an important element as to why Julian & Michelle hook up in the first place.

The fulfillment of Michelle's fantasy to be with a younger guy is her initial attraction to Julian. She starts to share this with him in the scene when she first shows up at his apartment (in front of the bookshelf). However, he puts his finger up to her lips to cut her off before she can say it.

Even though Travolta was far from middle-aged in 1980, Gere had a more youthful appearance. This included his facial structure/expressions (including his distinctive boyish smile) and a leaner, hairless body. These characteristics are fairly subtle and would seem immaterial to many viewers, but actually make for a more believable & realistic rent boy. Travolta has a hairy chest and thick facial stubble, and I don’t know if Schrader (or Travolta himself) would have the awareness to shave/wax and become more muscularly defined for the role (although Stallone convinced him to do this a few years later in Staying Alive).

[–] golden_muse2003 12 years ago

Yes, and the boyishness is even more required in his earlier scene with the older client; he's posing as an innocent Southern limo driver to seduce her, and he pulls it off perfectly.

Feminism is the "radical belief" that women are people, and should be paid and treated equally.

[–] wmlopez 9 years ago

They showed the pics in one of those A&E Bio shows. Now it was either the Gere or Travolta bio show. The pics they showed was when Julian Kaye is getting his jacked tailored which is a segment when the movie opens. Travolta was slim and had his hair styled like in MOMENT BY MOMENT.

[–] wmlopez 9 years ago

I had seen a couple of those photos too.
They said Travolta kept the suits and there's a 1982 talk show John did with Olivia Newton-John and he's wearing the same style of suit. John would have been good in the part and you know he would have had a dance scene in the movie.

[–] angel32 15 years ago

There's a very good possibility Travolta could've played the role as well as Gere did, however I do not see Reeve playing such a sexy character at all. At least not the way Gere pulled it off.

[–] carpathiademille 14 years ago

I like John Travolta but when I watch "American Gigolo" I always am thankful Richard Gere played the part. He was perfect. And I heartily concur with the mention of Richard's "boyish smile." It's one of my favorite things about him.

[–] hunozthtiluvu 14 years ago

I didn't know that fact just till now. The whole time while watching the movie, I thought that walk Richard Gere had was so Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. A little bit bounce on the hips, I guess that's what the Bee Gees called "You can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man: no time to talk".

I so can see Travolta in this role, in fact, I think Travolta could bring a lot more sensitivity and fragility to it. Not saying Richard Gere's terrible for it.

I don't intend to be offensive, but I have to defend my opinions.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Ceephax 14 years ago

I think Gere's got the looks, but Travolta had more talent. I think if Travolta played the part instead it would have been more intense and dramatic towards the end. Gere was great at the start, but the way he was reacting towards everything around him when he was getting framed seemed a bit flat and soap opera esque.

SILENCIO....

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] aasoloway 12 years ago

I'll bet that Travolta may have come across as a hustler with a male clientele - if you know what i mean.

Watch "Moment by Moment" on Netflix if you can. It's like a Lifetime movie and kind of a train wreck.