Tom Hanks was crucial to the success of Forrest Gump, but a ton of other famous actors could have easily headlined the 1994 comedy: Bill Murray, John Travolta, and Chevy Chase, for instance. All three of them were reportedly offered the lead role of Forrest, but they each turned it down. Travolta later said that he regretted the decision, and Chase claimed he was shown a very early draft of the script that was “drastically different” than the film.

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