John Travolta says he lost big movie roles to Tom Hanks, other movie stars

The 'Grease' star revealed the lead role in 'Splash' was originally written for him, but went to Hanks instead

John Travolta admitted he missed out on a handful of large movie roles back in the day.

The 67-year-old actor opened up about his acting career during Friday's episode of "Hart to Heart" with comedian Kevin Hart.

During the interview, Travolta revealed he had been passed over for other actors, including Tom Hanks, Richard Gere and Jack Nicholson.

"The role in the Tom Hanks movie 'Splash' was written for me," Travolta told Hart during the episode. "But then we wouldn't have Tom Hanks, so let's have Tom Hanks!"

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John Travolta opened up about his film career with comedian Kevin Hart during a recent episode of ‘Hart to Heart.' (2017 Invision)

Travolta did point out that the competition wasn't bad considering there were only four actors for directors to choose from at the time. Mel Gibson and Denzel Washington made it into the competition later, according to the actor.

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"It was just Richard Gere, myself and Treat Williams up for most parts and Tom came a few years later, like '81 or '82... those roles would get interchangeable," he told Hart. "So in some ways, in Vegas, that's a one out of four chance."

The "Grease" star said there was a "solidity" in the movie industry at the time and that most movies were directed by Terrence Malick.

"He directed very important films in the ‘70s, and he wanted me for a film called ’Days Of Heaven,' and I screen-tested for it right after ‘Carrie’ and before ‘The Boy in the Plastic Bubble,’" he told Hart.

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"But it was such a significant role, that Richard Gere ended up doing, which ended up a theme, where he did many roles I didn't do," Travolta added.

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