Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino cast John Travolta in 'Pulp Fiction' so he could ''fix'' the actor's failing career.

The 'Grease' star - who reportedly turned down 'An Officer and a Gentleman' and 'American Gigolo' in the 1980s in favour of several box office disasters - revealed the Hollywood director desperately wanted him to star in the 1994 crime thriller because he was ''disappointed'' with the direction his career was going.

John - who portrayed violent heroin addict Vincent Vega in the film - said: ''Tarantino asked to meet me and said, 'I'm so disappointed with what you've done with your career. I want to fix all that.' He had to fight with the studio but he only wanted me and I was so deeply touched.''

John earned an Oscar nomination for his starring role in the film and went on to receive a number of big movie offers - such as 'Face/Off' opposite Nicolas Cage - but prior to that he appeared in 1977 hit US dance motion picture 'Saturday Night Fever', and the 58-year-old insists he never thought it would be a success.

He explained: ''Disco dancing was on its way out and the clothing I wore, polyester this and that, was finished when we did the movie. I thought I was doing an art film, a slice of life about a small group of people obsessed with disco. I thought I had an interesting character but I didn't think it'd be a commercial hit.''

While John has gone on to have a glittering film career, he isn't about to start slowing down and already has two movies, 'Killing Season' and 'Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father', scheduled for release next year.

He added to The Scotsman: ''The necessity to do well is high at this level. When the industry knows there's a great script and there's a big studio supporting it and the actors are all worth their keep, there is a pressure. You want to live up to a standard.''

© Bang Showbiz