Why John Travolta Never Became a Bond Villain
John Travolta once admitted he’d jump at the chance to play a James Bond villain, calling it his only exception to quitting baddie roles. But the opportunity never came his way.
John Travolta’s name usually brings to mind leading men with a bit of edge, but not outright villains. Sure, Danny Zuko from Grease and Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction aren’t exactly angels, but they’re still the main blokes in their stories. That said, Travolta’s had his fair share of playing the bad guy, especially during the late ‘90s and early 2000s. He was the rogue Air Force major in Broken Arrow, a nasty hacker in Swordfish, and whatever you’d call his role in Battlefield Earth – not exactly winning over the punters, on or off the screen.
In a chat with The Telegraph, Travolta mentioned he was ready to move on from villain roles, except for one.
“I would love that,”
he said about playing a Bond baddie.
“They’re going a different way with their villain in this next film, but I’ve spoken to Barbara Broccoli about it, and she loves the idea, so that would be great.”
For Travolta, the Bond franchise was the only thing that could tempt him back to the dark side.
Bond Baddies: Missed Opportunities
The interview happened in 2014, just before Spectre hit cinemas. That film brought back Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond’s most iconic nemesis, played by Christoph Waltz. With Blofeld’s Eastern European roots and super-genius persona, it’s not hard to see why the filmmakers went with Waltz instead of Travolta. The other villains in Spectre – Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott) and Mr Hinx (Dave Bautista) – also didn’t really fit Travolta’s style. One’s a sly MI6 double agent, the other’s a hulking henchman. Neither role seemed like a natural fit for him.
Fast forward to No Time to Die, and the main antagonist is Lyutsifer Safin, a scarred bioterrorist played by Rami Malek. The character’s a bit of a blank slate, evil just for the sake of it, and doesn’t give much for any actor to work with. Malek did what he could, but it’s tough to imagine Travolta making much of an impact with such a thinly written villain.
Travolta’s Place in the Bond Universe
Looking at the current state of the Bond series, it’s hard to picture Travolta ever landing the villain gig. The franchise is still one of the biggest in film history, but Travolta’s star power isn’t quite what it used to be. Maybe if the timing had been different – say, twenty years ago – things could’ve played out another way. As it stands, he’ll have to settle for being a fan, whether that means collecting Bond memorabilia or firing up GoldenEye 007 on the old N64.