Travolta: I turned down Chicago role

John Travolta says he was offered the role of lawyer Billy Flynn in the hit film musical Chicago but he turned it down.

The part then went to Richard Gere who won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

“My research was to go and see the show,” Travolta told TV Guide Online, “and each time I saw the show, I thought, ‘Well, how are they going to do this as a movie?’ I couldn’t figure it out.”

The actor said he might have taken the part if director Rob Marshall had met him and explained what he planned to do. “I needed a director’s vision. I heard Rob and the producers were so disappointed I’d said no. I said, ‘But why didn’t you ask for the meeting to explain the movie to me?”’