Whether it’s strutting his stuff to the Bee Gees, munching down a
Royale With Cheese with Samuel L. Jackson, or swapping faces with
Nicholas Cage, John Travolta has provided audiences with a laundry list
of memorable movie moments.
Over a 37-year career,
Travolta has become one of the most recognizable faces in film. But
when looking back on his early work, the actor admits that he can
barely recognize himself.
“I see a little boy in those
movies,” Travolta says. “I thought I was very advanced in those days,
but I know much more now. I was lucky to start in this industry with a
bang and I’m even luckier to still be here.”
This week audiences may see a side of Travolta they never expected in From Paris With Love. The star plays a ruthless special agent with no qualms about shooting first without ever getting to the questions.
“It’s
a pretty extreme character. I don’t think anyone has seen me quite this
way before and that was the reason to do it,” says Travolta. “We
decided that the only way it would work was to be bold with the
character and go all the way.”
No matter how violent or
over-the-top his character might be, Travolta was never worried about
harming his nice-guy image. “It wasn’t a concern because he’s not
really a villain. He’s a good guy with unorthodox methods.”
The
movie is an all-out action thrill ride filled with car chases,
gunfights, explosions, and at least one rocket launcher. Surprisingly
the 55-year old actor ended up doing most of his own stunts on the
project.
“When we started, I said to (director) Pierre
Morel, ‘Do you really want me to do all of these stunts, because I’m an
old man?’” says Travolta. “But there was such a confidence there that I
thought I’d better to live up to their expectations and really went for
it. It paid off, because I’ve never done this much action in a movie
before. Somehow the old body was still able to do it.”
From Paris With Love
also gave Travolta the opportunity to change his appearance, shaving
his head and growing a goatee for the role. It’s certainly a jarring
look that the actor and director claim they got from photos of special
agents in Soldier Of Fortune magazine
Audiences are sure
to be caught off guard, but that’s what the actor hoped for and it
reminded him of his approach to one of his most famous roles.
“It was similar to Pulp Fiction
where it was my idea to do that Dutch Boy thing,” says Travolta. “The
character had just been in Europe, so I thought it would be an
appropriate Eurotrash look. I remember Quentin Tarantino thinking it
wasn’t a good idea, but we did a screen test and he loved it. In both
movies my look is the signature of the character. In film, image is
important and not to be looked at as superficial at all.”
