As we all continue to mourn the loss of one of the greatest entertainers of the millennium, Prince, it’s no shock that new stories relating to the late artist are sprouting. The latest comes Purple Rain director Albet Magnoli in a recent interview with Rolling Stones in which he delves details on who was going to going to be cast in the starring role in the 1984 musical film.
Per Rolling Stones:
[Robert] Cavallo realized there might be studio interest in the material, so they wanted me to come and speak to various studios. I didn’t really want to do that. I felt that once a studio is involved, then you have the studio interference thing. I said, “We have a million dollars,” and Bob said, “If we don’t have to spend our own money that would be fantastic.”
The first meeting at Warner Brothers was with the head of the studio and production and some executives, and the first thing they said was, “Is it possible to ask if John Travolta can play Prince?” I looked at [Prince’s managers] and thought, “This is what I’m talking about. Welcome to this world.”
That’s right. John Travolta almost scored the role as the role of a lifetime!
This is the second shocking role that it’s been reported Travolta almost scored in recent memory. Remember when it was reported that he almost starred in and directed in Godfather III alongside Sylvester Stallone. Funny enough this almost happened in 1983, a year before Purple Rain. Weird times huh?