John Travolta Talks 'Grease: Live'

Actor says he will not appear in the upcoming live TV adaptation.

ByABC News
February 3, 2015, 12:06 PM
John Travolta in Los Angeles on Jan. 16, 2015.
John Travolta in Los Angeles on Jan. 16, 2015.
Rob Latour/Invision/AP

Feb. 3, 2015— -- Fans hoping to get a glimpse of John Travolta in the upcoming live TV version of "Grease" will be disappointed.

"I did it [already]," the actor told E! News at the G'Day USA Gala and AACTA International Awards. "I want to leave Danny the way he was. I don't even know what I would do in it if I did it."

Fox is set to air the live adaptation of the cult musical in January 2016, but hasn't yet revealed their Danny Zuko.

So far, Julianne Hough has signed up to play Sandy and Vanessa Hudgens will be cast as Rizzo.

But Travolta will be returning to TV sets for the first time since "Welcome Back, Kotter." He's been cast to play defense attorney Robert Shapiro in the new O.J. Simpson miniseries by "Glee" and "American Horror Story" creator Ryan Murphy

"Ryan Murphy and [co-producer] Nina Jacobson called and said they wanted to have dinner and discuss the possibility," Travolta told E! "I took a long time to decide, but I read the first three scripts and then I asked very important people in my life what they thought...and they all agreed that this was a good thing to do and I decided to do it. I have my work cut out for me."

Travolta will star alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian and Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark.

Travolta recalled where he was when the verdict was read. "I was with my father, I believe, because he was obsessed with it because he was a big football fan," he said.