How old was John Travolta in Pulp Fiction?

From the beginning of the film John Travoltais the hilarious and authentic performance as Vincent Vega in the 1994s pulp Fiction draws in the audience as the character tells us about a “Royale with cheese” and the complicated marijuana laws of the Netherlands.

Quentin Tarantino’s second film pulled Travolta out of a career crisis and earned the veteran actor an Oscar nomination. The actor was 40 years old when the film was released and was 39 during production. Travolta’s lead actor Samuel L. Jackson was 45 years old when the film premiered; Uma Thurman was 24. And Bruce Willis was 39.

Again, Travolta’s performance was one of the highlights of the film. However, casting the actor wasn’t easy.

Quentin Tarantino had to fight for Travolta to be there pulp Fiction

It’s bizarre to imagine anyone but Travolta playing Vincent Vega. But by the early ’90s, his career was on the decline, and certain industry bigwigs like Harvey Weinstein felt that the actor lacked reliable bankability.

Weinstein, who produced much of Tarantino’s filmography, was completely against casting Travolta Pulp Fiction. Accordingly Vanity FairWeinstein instead advocated for big names like Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Penn or William Hurt. A young Tarantino and his agent Mike Simpson stood firm and forced the producer to relent.

After pulp FictionTravolta’s star shone brightly. A year after the film’s release, he achieved renewed success with Get Shorty, starring Danny DeVito, Gene Hackman and Rene Russo. In 1997, he and Nicholas Cage cracked the box office Face/Off.

Even though Travolta has had one of the most tumultuous careers in Hollywood, his iconic roles are iconic for a reason. Nobody will forget it pulp Fiction, Fat, And Saturday Night Fever sometime soon.

(Tarantino fans might also be interested to know that a rumor is spreading online that Travolta could appear in the director’s final film; that would definitely be a game-changer.)