John Travolta Bullied Roman Polanski

John Travolta's explanation of why he walked off the set of The Double in Paris before director Roman Polanski could utter his first "action." Polanski didn't like Travolta's acting style and--the last straw--wanted him to do a nude scene, the actor says.

"First of all, there were no naked scenes in the original script," Travolta grouses to the French weekly Paris-Match in an interview published today. "Roman added it for no reason. And what's more, I have never acted naked in my whole career, and it's not now that I'm fat that I'm going to start."

Travolta felt so strongly about his artistic vision--or his waistline--that he offered to pay $3.5 million to have Polanski removed from the production, he says. "Our views on the film were completely different: I wanted to do a dramatic comedy, he wanted a cartoon."

From the start of rehearsal, Polanski apparently did not give Travolta the star treatment. "At the first reading, Roman didn't like my acting. He told me I was bad and showed me what I should do."

The production company and the U.S. distributor sued Travolta for walking out on the movie. In court documents, they claimed that Travolta's "ego had been bruised by Polanski's legitimate efforts to direct."

But dude, it's Polanski...

Barbarino further squanders his Pulp Fiction (1994) second chance.

Team Travolta.

Roman Polanski's response at the time:

Back in Paris, however, Roman Polanski was taking care of something else. With cameras set to roll on June 10, The Double‘s director had suddenly lost his $17 million star; the trades reported that Travolta had stormed out after a dustup with the man behind such dark classics as Chinatown and Repulsion.

Within hours, lawyers for Travolta and Peter Guber’s Mandalay Entertainment, the Sony-based company producing The Double, were gearing up for a legal skirmish, while a Polanski associate was steaming over Travolta’s hasty hegira.

”I don’t know how he could possibly spin this into anything other than he left, returned to L.A. to seek guidance and counsel from his advisers, and walked off the movie, leaving 250 people in Paris with their hands in their pants,” the associate says.

”And he’s never made any attempt to further communicate with the director. Even if there were a creative difference of opinion, in your experience, don’t people normally get together and talk?”

Two years later , the director 'still [hadn't] forgiven that man ... So many people had put so much effort into the project when all of a sudden everything fell apart. Pierre Guffroy, my long-time designer, cried when we tore down the set.'

"seek guidance and counsel from his advisers"

It's clear that Polanski meant Scientology.

It's John Travolta's loss. I'm sure the movie would have been interesting and even if it had flopped commercially, it would have been a valuable addition to Travolta's body of work.

Up his nose with rubba hose!

[quote] I have never acted naked in my whole career, and it's not now that I'm fat that I'm going to start."

This is unintentionally hilarious!

R8 I agree, I laughed out loud when I read it. LMAO

Well whatever. He went on to make Face/Off and I can't imagine Polanski making a better film than that.

Only thing I remember from the Pianist is thinking this is a good film, Adrian Brody at the piano and the Nazis dumping a grandpa in a wheelchair out a window. I remember a lot more of Face/Off.

Travolta must be hung like a gerbil.

He’s hung like a bull!

R8 I think Travolta was intentional in his comment

R10... You can’t imagine Polanski making a better movie than Face/Off? Are you crazy or just young?

It was a good movie. Just not memorable.

R14 Agree, To each his own, but Face Off is better than Polanski's movies??!! Face off movie aged very badly. Polanski movie would have been a remarkable point in Travolta's career.

Face off is just another corny ass 1990s movie. Travolta's couldn't handle Polanski's brilliance.

So did John get to keep the $17M dollars? Was it guaranteed up front money?

R18

John Travolta settles “Double” lawsuit:

John Travolta and two production companies that traded lawsuits over Donnie Brasco and Roman Polanski’s abandoned The Double settled their cases out of court , lawyers told Reuters. Mandalay Entertainment and Liteoffer sued Travolta in 1996, claiming that he breached his contract after agreeing to star in The Double for $17 million. In addition, the companies claim that the film was never made when Travolta walked off the set after his character was rewritten. Travolta counter-sued, claiming Mandalay reneged on a deal for him to star in Donnie Brasco, which ultimately starred Al Pacino and Johnny Depp. Travolta‘s attorney, Richard Posell, said the lawsuits were “settled to everyone’s satisfaction” but declined to discuss specifics.

r17, that must be why Polanski hired him....

From the other John Travolta's thread:

"I remember back in 1996, I was in the library reading an interview (it's strange, sometimes, the things you remember and the things you don't) with a producer or some such (I can't remember who). There was a baity Polanski (another gem) film which Travolta was attached to called The Double.

The scuttlebutt was that, post-Pulp/Get Shorty/Broken Arrow, Travolta's ego had re-inflated beyond healthy proportions and throwing his weight around a bit too much. He breached contract, the movie never got made, and he was sued. But, I remember the words of that producer, (something to the effect of) "Travolta better be careful, or he's going to lose all of that good-will he has built back up for himself." And, sure enough, voila! Why that stuck with me, I have no idea."