But before he signed on to star inPulp Fiction,Travolta spent a transformative day with writer-directorQuentin Tarantino.
And I knocked on his door and I said, ‘Don’t say a word.
If you go left, it’s the living room and the kitchen is attached.
Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Keitel, Uma Thurman, and John Travolta attend the TCM Film Festival screening of ‘Pulp Fiction’.Presley Ann/Getty Images for TCM
If you go right, it’s a bedroom.’
He said, ‘How do you know that?’
I said, ‘I used to live here.’
John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in ‘Pulp Fiction’.Everett Collection
So, we were off and running."
“It was theSaturday Night Fevergame, theGreaseGame, theWelcome Back KotterGame,” he said.
But don’t tell me when you’re going to do it.'"
John Travolta at the TCM Film Festival screening of ‘Pulp Fiction’.JC Olivera/WireImag
“So I went through his finances with him.
I said, ‘Okay, now you’re an up-and-coming artist.
You have to have some reserves.
Tell me how much you have.'”
And I went through his whole accounting, and I felt a little better after that."
Little did Travolta know that gesture would solidify him as Vincent Vega in Tarantino’s mind.
“A week later, he offered me the role of Vincent,” Travolta concluded.
“And I said, ‘Why?
What did you see in me that could convince you that I could play this role?’
He said, ‘It was you helping me with my finances.
You had this analytical, theoretical, philosophical viewpoint that I need for that character.’
He said, ‘I want him to be thoughtful about whatever he’s gone through.’
And that was it.”
JC Olivera/WireImag
The annual TCM Classic Film Festival runs April 18-21.
