The ‘Moneyball’ actor – who is renowned for serious roles in movies including ‘The Tree of Life’ and ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ – was inspired by the 1977 music-based romance movie starring John Travolta because it taught him about life outside of his home-state of Oklahoma.
He said: “Strangely enough, I loved ‘Saturday Night Fever’. I loved it. But it wasn’t, you know, the bad suits and the dancing, although I can do the hustle. It was the idea of people, well, I didn’t know people could live like that. This idea of a different culture.
“I’d seen only my corner of the world which was Oklahoma and Missouri, so it’s the idea that there are complete other ways to attack life out there.“