Forrest Gump was a very nuanced character. Playing the part required a great deal of precision and subtlety, and requires a very skilled performer. Tom Hanks is one of the few actors we can think of who would be capable of playing Gump without mocking the subject matter or looking for cheap laughs, and so we'd always thought that he was the first man considered for the position. Imagine our surprise when we found out it was John Travolta.
Don't get us wrong here - we love John Travolta films. From 'Saturday Night Fever' to 'Pulp Fiction,' he's delighted us over and over again. We just can't imagine him playing a part as quiet and studied as Forrest Gump, and so we're a little glad that he decided not to do it. Oddly, he and Hanks are considered for the same roles quite often - he also rejected the part of Jim Lovell in 'Apollo 13,' which again went to Hanks, and did the same thing with the Hanks character in 'The Green Mile.'