Why 1978 Oscar Nominee Pushed for a Dance Solo in 'Saturday Night Fever'
The 1977 movie,Saturday Night Fever put disco at the forefront of a coming-of-age story. John Travolta dancing in that white suit is iconic.
But the movie almost didn't originally include his character ditching his dance partner to show off his moves alone. This is why Travolta, 72, fought to change that.
John Travolta Trained in Dancing for 5 Months for 'Saturday Night Fever'
The teenage Tony Manero blew off steam at night with dancing. There is a scene of him leaving a woman in a green dress to take over the floor as the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing" played. Everyone in the disco watched and cheered him along.
Related: 1952 Musical Ranked No. 1 for Most Difficult Dance for a Movie Role
"The partner dancing is fun and it looks great, and everything," Travolta told Brian Linehan. "But I said, 'You'll never make the audience believe that he can get the attention that he'd be getting like he does in the film or the way he can clear a floor without some sort of history to it.'"
The actor believed it was a "cop out" to not show Tony Manero handling the dance floor on his own. Travolta trained to dance in the film for five months, and producers still questioned including a dance solo.
"I didn't train five months to just do the partner dance," he said. "I could've done that before. I said I want to do what I worked on doing."
The actor's work paid off with him receiving a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. It was also far from the last time he would dance on screen. The next year Grease was released Pulp Fiction, and Hair Spray were released later.
Related: 1955 Comedy Ranked No. 1 for Most Iconic Movie Dress
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 11:45 AM.