Grease: How John Travolta's "unfocused" audition initially got him cast as another character

24 April 2024, 12:50

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John Travolta's first audition for Danny Zuko was a complete disaster.

John Travolta was already fast becoming a megastar by the time Grease hit the big screen.

He'd had TV success with Welcome Back, Kotter, a key supporting role in Carrie, and led the massive Saturday Night Fever, but it was arguably his starring turn as Danny Zuko in Grease that cemented Travolta as one of the biggest actors of the decade.

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But Travolta's first audition to play Danny Zuko was far from a success.

Half a decade before Grease came out in cinemas, it had just enjoyed a major run on Broadway, and a cast shake-up was in the offing.

While Doug Stevenson had originated Danny in the first Chicago production, it was Barry Bostwick who had played the part at the Broadhurst Theatre and Royale Theatre on Broadway.

Travolta – then only 18 – was one of the many hopefuls looking to replace Stevenson.

He looked the part in a motorcycle jacket and white T with slicked back hair, but despite his impressive pipes on his run-through Carole King's 'I Feel the Earth Move', it wasn't to be.

"His audition was completely unfocused," original Broadway producer Tom Moore told the New York Post.

"It was all over the place. But he had a terrific voice. He was immensely charming. And he was very attractive. He looked like a French movie star.

"He was too young for the part. So we made him Doody, a goofy character who got kind of thrown away in the movie."

When it came to casting the movie in 1978, Travolta was much better placed, having seen a few other Dannys doing their thing.

And it's worth noting that the first West End production of Grease in 1973 saw a very young Richard Gere impressing as Danny Zuko.

John Travolta has had countless excellent roles over the years, but the on-stage Danny isn't the only part he's missed out on.

He auditioned to play Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, but that part went to Robert De Niro, while he is also said to have turned down an approach to play Manny Ray in Scarface.