Page 7 - Pop History: John Travolta

Episode Date: September 10, 2019

In our new series, Jackie and Holden dive deep into the history of a Page 7 favorite, and discover the rise, the fall, and rise again of John Travolta.  Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Page 7 ad-free.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ladies and gentlemen, there comes a time in everyone's life when they discover this person. And then they discover this person again in a different way, and then a different way, and then a different way. Is this our differentest way of all? This man is like a house of mirrors, Jackie. I mean, when I began this work, I still feel that he is an enigma to me, that he is, The Ridler in a sense. I laughed. I cried.

I don't know how to feel, though. You know what I mean? This is the funniest thing I've ever researched, Jackie. Of course, we should intro it now. Today we are doing an episode, our very first ever page seven history lesson. We're doing our pop history lesson on none other than John Travolta. How could we not start it off with John Travolta?

He is, you know, he's sort of like, I can't think of page seven without thinking about John Travolta. It should, honestly, the podcast should be called John Travolta. I would. I mean, there's definitely enough information to talk about him for 100,000 years. Because especially going back through the, just the idea of John Travolta and not even realizing, man, this dude is inspefucking rational. Yes. He has worked from just the second he could to be exactly what he is.

The tiniest dancer. Just, you know, he's just the cutest. But he's worked his fucking ass off for everything. Now here's, and then also a member of a cult, we've got death, we've got piloting, there's just so much. And also all of the allegations. There's a lot of different. I feel like John Travolta is a, he's a diamond in how multifaceted.

It depends on which way you're looking at him. to see what you want to see. The House of Mirrors. It's a House of Mirrors. I will say to, you know, usually what we refer to it as on which the bruiser is The Gush. In other words, what is your personal experience with John Travolta before we get into his full life story? I know for me personally, I guess Greece was probably my first experience with John Travolta. I wasn't, I have an admission to make, and this is something I need to rectify in the next week or so.

I've never seen Saturday Night Fever, and I feel like I owe, I feel like it is a disservice that I've done to the country not seeing that movie. I was saying the same thing while doing this research about Urban Cowboy. Yeah. Oh, you haven't seen Urban Cowboy. Watch, that was like that afternoon movie that was just always on, I feel like on Sunday afternoon. I watched a lot of like daytime TV. I'm bored out of my mind as a kid, heavily, you know, edited for content daytime movies. And Urban Cowboy was just always kind of on.

So I don't know if I've ever sat down and watched it from beginning to end, but I've seen the movie, essentially. Well, you should get on Saturday Night Fever because it is fun, and I will watch Urban Cowboy, and then we will talk. Because the thing is, I think where I first fell in love with John Travolta, because I think it's just technically because of my age is, look, who's talking. Oh, I thought you're going to say Pulp Fiction, but of course, look, who's talking. I forgot about, I keep forgetting about Look Who's Talking.

And then I see it was a movie, and I'm like, God, damn stuff was weird. weird in the 90s. It was such a weird movie, but also I completely loved him. And actually, there's in an interview, he said that that is the character that is the closest to who he is in real life. That's hilarious. Which made me fall in love with him even more. I loved him and look who's talking.

He had great chemistry with what, Kirstie Allie. Yeah, they were great together in that movie. That movie was so weird. By the way, that just made me realize we could almost do an entire bonus episode on talking baby and animal movies of the 90s. Yes, so that's what it was it. Specifically, at that time in the 90s, everything was talking that shouldn't be talking.

Talking everything. Well, even in the look he's talking, I can't remember it was the first one or the second one, when they had the talking toilet. Right. Because he wouldn't go peepee in the potty. Right, right. I remember that.

Yeah. I know. I know. Let's get back to John Travolta. Yes, yes. Also, though, but then, right, because I remember, I think one of my first times of looking at John Travolta is like a cool, actual cool dude.

because he's just like a caricature to me in Greece. He's just like a dude bro and look he's talking. But Pulp Fiction was like, what? What is this? And I mean, Pulp Fiction is incredible for so many reasons. But that was definitely the first time I took him seriously as an actor. And then, you know, you have this incredible, I mean, every action movie seemed to have John Travolta. Face Off, Broken Arrow.

He just had this big career. Well, that was like the third resurgence of John Travolta because I didn't even think about that until it was doing this research where it's like, man, you're right, because he became crazy famous in like the three years of movies he made. Four action shit. So it was like he's a dancer boy, super famous for that. Well, I guess there's also Cotter. Welcome Back to Codder. Well, he was bad boy, singer, dancer, love interest.

Back to bad boy, back to singer dancer. Yes. And then into the, all right. So let's get into it. Here we go. Let's start with the beginning. And now he just straight kind of creeps me out, which is like the best.

Like, I don't know how to describe it. Like, he freaks me out. But then reading through all this stuff, like, as much as he definitely creeps me out, and I have a lot of feelings about a lot of different of the mirrors that I look into John Travolta. But, like, you can't, you can't look at him and say, man, though, he's definitely been busting his fucking ass.

Sure, but he's got an odd facial structure that makes me feel uncomfortable sometimes. Well, he kind of looks like a wolf. And then, and come on. And then also, by the way, he is a part of some of the greatest films arguably ever made with Saturday Night Fever is like up on the list. Grease is even kind of up in the list if you like that sort of thing. Pulp Fiction, one of the best movies ever made. And then also one of the worst films of all time with Battlefield Earth.

It is unbelievable. Battlefield Earth, which also in reading through a bunch of the research, Battlefield Earth, ruined him. Yes. After his other resurgence. Because now you. You see, it is the old dogs. It is like the wildhaws. Wild hogs.

The fact that he does these movies that he doesn't even need to do. Yeah, I don't know why he's. But he does them just because he can't not keep working. He's just unchained. You know what I mean? Okay, so let's take it from the very beginning. Born in 1954 in Englewood, New Jersey. He was the youngest of six kids, and he was in a showbiz family.

His father was a semi-pro football player turned tire salesman. and his mother was an actress slash singer who appeared in the radio vocal group, The Sunshine Sisters. The Sunshine Sisters. Before becoming a high school drama and English teacher, all of his siblings acted. He said this is the, he had this to say about the first time he danced in public. My mom was an actress and a drama teacher, and she was directing the local Fourth of July pageant in our town. It was 1962 and everybody was doing the twist. So little Johnny Travolta convinced his mom to give him a shot.

I went out on stage and twisted for like 15 minutes. I was on way too long and people were yawning, but I didn't care. And then, of course, he ends up the first time he danced, one of the most iconic scenes in film history, Johnny Travolta doing the twist. Right? That is it, baby? He dropped out of high school as a junior at just 17 years old, by the way,

in order to move to New York City. Well, then he almost immediately started, which I didn't realize, he was in the touring company of Greece before being in the movie Greece. Which one is duty? Which one is duty in Greece? I don't know Greece well enough. What do you think about Greece, by the way?

Do you... I was recently talking about it. I have a friend who we've been going back and forth because, you know, Katz is all the chat right now. Of course. My friend Jeff, who I do cocktails with on my stream, he has like an irrational hatred of Greece. I hate Greece.

You hate Greece. I really, really, really, really hate Greece. I really, really hate Greece. And I think that most of the reason. Most people, especially if you worked in musical theater before, you either love Greece or you hate Greece. I like Greece. Have you ever been in a production of Greece, though? No, I think if I was, I would hate it.

And I've been in a couple of musicals. I'm going to say four or five musicals. And I love the other musicals I've been in, but Greece. I don't love Greece. I like that it's a little dirty. I like a few of the songs. hilariously enough, the song I probably liked the most wasn't in the original musical, which is the opening.

It's the word is the word that you had. Yeah, yeah. It's great. I mean, it is. Also, it's the third highest grossing movie of all time. So obviously they did something right. Well, and we will get into that later because that made him and Olivia Newton-John

co-singers on one of the most successful duets of all time, which might lead to a future project, which we'll get into. So he starts out as, by the way, Greece started out as a Chicago musical in 1971 before moving to Broadway. I did not know that. Interesting. He also got a role on a Broadway show called Over Here. Over here, over here. Over here, over here.

About a train trip in the U.S. during World War II. And he sang, he got his big song was called Dream Drummond. Oh, John Trump. Oh, baby. He had the spark in his eye. He was also around the time that he was changing from Roman Catholicism to Scientology. So he moves to L.A. and lands his first on-screen role in 1972 with the medical drama, Emergency! And then he gets a horror film in 1975 called The Devil's Rain, which now I kind of want to look up the devil's rain.

I don't want to watch the devil's rain, because based on the description, it looks pretty spooky, kooky, ducky. And during this time, Trevolta, while on set filming The Devil's Rain, I believe this is in Mexico or some, he's handed a copy of the El Ron Hubbard canonical text of Scientology titled Dianetics. And he has since been a practitioner of the cult. So that's early. He was born in 1954, so do the math. He was 21. Yeah, he started Scientology.

They got him young. His first big role was after that. Oh, surprisingly, he starts getting really big role. after that very. Very surprising. With the, as the bully in the horror film, Carrie, I don't really remember him for Carrie, though. I don't remember him specifically, but I remember all the bullies. I imagine it's one of those, you know.

You know, yeah, he had the long, he had the cotter look, right? The long, he was like, tough guy looking with the long hair. Oh, yeah, that was when he was at his sexiest. That's sexiest. That was his big break after Carrie, I guess, in 76, 77. It was around that time. He gets the role of Vinnie Barbarino in the TV sitcom Welcome Back Cotter

about a remedial classroom of loafers called The Sweathogs. Did you watch much of it? For me, that was like just before my TV watching time. My older sister watched a lot of Welcome Back Cotter, and I remember the up he nose with a rubber house. And we would say that in our family a lot, even though no one said it quite like that, which I did include this.

So apparently Welcome Back Cotter was based, on Gabe Kaplan, who played Mr. Cotter's stand-up. So that's why he was the lead in the show. And Up Your Nose with a Rubber Hose was actually used to be Up Your Hole with a Mellow Roll, which was an ice cream cone shape in the 1960s. But it was too naughty for television, so they changed it to Up Your Nose with a Rubber Hose. Up Your Hole! I like that shit. Thank you.

Thank you for that tale of fucking bizaritis. Judge Rolte said this about auditioning for the part of Vinnie Barbarino. I remember I went shopping on Hollywood Boulevard for, in my neck of the woods, New Jersey, we called Nikki Newark clothes. They were polyester late 60s looking greaser hoodlum type clothes. I just went full on having to be this guy. I felt like I needed to dress the part. Come in and knock them out, and so I did. At this point, method acting was very big, even on a TV show like Welcome Back Cotter.

They all pretended to be these super obnoxious high school kids all day. apparently like most everyone who ever guest starred on the show refused to ever do the show again after doing it once because why literally terrible because they were just acted like asshole like they acted like those kids the whole time shooting and they were like a little click you know what I mean so they were just like you know spit balls and doing obnoxious shit I mean can you imagine like being around a much of fucking adult grown adults acting like asshole high school kids no that also had a bunch of money and could actually technically do whatever they wanted no yeah yeah and so a It was, like, really ridiculous, but they had fun, I guess. But, yeah, that sounds obnoxious. Yes. So after that, man, this is when his career really starts ripping and rocking. This is the swing in 1970s.

Cocaine is fuck. You could do a cocaine. Ooh, it is flying. Yeah, there's literally a service you could call to, like, get a woman to show up with cocaine in her ass. You could do it out of an asshole. Can you do it off for roller skates, though, or do you have to pay extra? Exactly. You could do it off for roller skates.

There was literally, yeah, there was men who would show. show up and just like do cocaine off their own dicks. It's disgusting. I don't even know how they did it, but I want to be there. You know, there are, there is a, I'm going to say 20% of me that is pretty sad that I didn't live in the 70s. I will say my, my body type does not fit in in the 70s, even more so than it does not fit in in the year 2019.

But I think that just the idea of never stopping partying and always doing drugs and it being like technically like fine and cool. cool to do all these things, at least of what we think of the 1970s. That sounds like a lot of fun. One thing that I don't think about is the fact that he had like weirdly a hit singing career around this time. He did. In 1976, he had a hit single with Let Her In, which I've never even heard.

But it reached number 10 on the U.S. Billboard Top 100. I know, Jackie. What the fuck is happening? I don't know. I don't know this song at all. And this is like before this, Grease hadn't even happened yet. No, this is, so he released, what I love, though, is that his first album was called John Travolta. Yes, it was just called John Travolta, reached number 39 on the charts.

Kind of insane. And then Can't Let You Go, which came out a year after. And then in 1978, along with the Grease soundtrack, he released Travolta Fever. Yeah, I mean, you know, I think that he, you know, I don't even think it was him at this time that wanted, like, that thought that he could, like, fly to the moon and back by him. I feel like it was the people around him that was like, this is the star. This is the one that we're going to put all of our money in. Yeah, yeah, no, he's the one that's going to make us all the money, which he eventually did.

But I think that they knew this. Like, I think he was being bred for this, which is probably, especially in Scientology and things like that, where I think that a lot of him feeling the need to hide who he is and hide everything about himself really was solidified because there wasn't time for him to be himself. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I don't think he knows at all who he is at this point.

No. By the way, a few. So Travolta Fever was actually a compilation album featuring songs from his other records. So here are a couple of the songs. I don't know what I like about you, baby. I don't know what I like about you, baby. Also, track number five on Side 1 is just called Rasmataz. Ha ha ha ha.

Are you sure it's not? from the musical cats. It probably is. Side two. Good Night Mr. Moon. You also have, you set my dreams to music. The 70s.

Easy evil. Easy evil. Again, I think that it has a lot to do with the things that he's hiding within himself. That's the easy evil. Those things that you just don't talk about. It's my easy evil.

Oh, wow. So like this album thing happens, but the big thing that happens right around here is starring as Tony Minero in Saturday Night Fever. Oh, but what about the boy in the plastic bubble hole? Yeah, we didn't really talk, I don't, do you, have you seen that? Dude, I haven't, but this is where, see, this is where I got, I, I went down quite some wormholes with this. Oh, yeah, dude. Because see, the reason, the only reason why I bring up the boy in the plastic bubble is that I think that this is a big thing of why he is so fucked up emotionally and when it comes to relationships.

So when he was in the boy in the plastic bubble, have we talked about this before on page seven? I don't know if you were, no, I don't know. I don't think so. I don't think so. So John Travolta was 18 years old and it was one of his first roles and he started dating Diana Highland

who was the 40-year-old woman that played his mother in the movie. Whoa, that's fucking hot, dude. They dated for a year and a half and in that year and a half she got breast cancer and he stayed with her through the chemo and she died in his arms at the age of

41. Whoa. And so Diana Highland won an Emmy for her performance in the boy in the plastic bubble and Travolta accepted it on her behalf. Oh my God. And it's the kind of thing that in all of this weird research I was doing, her name kept coming up because he would

bring her up constantly, especially like in his really dark times that like I think he was really fucked up by this woman that like I think he did truly love and I think that that's why again I'm not gonna we're not gonna get into all of the allegations and stuff like that but I think that he had a really fucked up like perception of what love is and what love could be well what do you think so a bit of a forest gump or an op anti-gump yeah do you think uh because he is really smart but he he he doesn't know what love is. Which also, it's weird that you brought that up, but we'll get to that

later. I don't know if you saw my other trivia facts in the Forest Go. What was I going to say? I was going to say to you, do you think in all your research, and this is all speculation here, do you think he's by then? I think he's pansexual. Like, I feel like it, I really do think. Like he plays the flute? Yes, I think he plays the flute and whatever genitals go in front of him is what he has sex with, yeah. With goat hooves? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But if you think about it, he went from being raised strict Catholic to becoming a Scientologist

and neither one of those cult slash religions is homosexuality of any sort condoned. Uh-huh. Oh, is it weird inside? I didn't know there was weird in sign. I was kind of surprised to hear that. Oh, yeah, Scientology is very... Super homophobic? Oh, no, no, yeah. Why?

You would think they of all the cults, whatever, would be the most, like, open to that with all the celebrities running through there and everything. It has a lot to do with like the demons that are inside of you and all that kind of shit. Oh, God. It's gross. John Jervulta said about getting the part Saturday Night of Fever, once I got that part

in Saturday Fever for six months every single day, I trained and trained because that was the moral code at the time. I already knew the New Jersey Brooklyn motto. I knew the character, but I needed to become this dancer. Need to become the dancer. This is when he really kicks into gear with his dancing. right after that boom boom one two punch this is like him taken over the world he plays danny zuko in greece in 1978 livia newton john said john was charming and really wanted me to do it and that was one of the

deciding factors for her getting the role he's a lovely man we became great friends and he was very helpful to me on set as i was not an experienced actor she was mortified by the way at the idea of playing a high school girl because she was quite a bit older they like made her didn't she like force them to have a screen test of her because she wanted to make sure she didn't look too old for the part? It was, and it seemed to be Travolta really enthusiastic about her being

a part of the film and getting in there and great choice. I couldn't imagine that role not being Olivia Newton-John. I can only imagine, if the only other person I can imagine is Michelle Pfeiffer. Which, yeah, which, and unfortunately I don't, I will never get how Grease 2 is such a flop because I really

truly, I like grease too more than I like regular grease. I think that's becoming an emerging narrative from a lot of people. Yes, it's great. And then, of course, the film you haven't seen Urban Cowboy in 1980. But I do love Deborah Winger, though. So I didn't even

realize that it was Deborah Winger in it, and that's like her first big movie. And I was like, oh, my God, my God, I want to see them kiss, especially because I am way into the cowboy look. So yes, please. And that was when John Travolta was at his hottest. And this is the thing, too, if you notice Saturday Night Fever,

like huge part of popularizing the disco craze. Greece, huge part and repopularizing like the 50s kind of nostalgia thing, you know, and then urban cowboy bringing country west from the forefront. Travolta is now what we would call today a major influencer. He is like on the head of all these giant trends in America and all over the world. This is probably the, even with Pulp Fiction and everything and all the stuff that happened in the 90s, I still don't think you can get bigger than Trevolta in the 70s in terms of, for his career. I think this is just like you're setting trends, you're this it guy, you're the lead of all these like great, and very different movies.

And also on top of it, every romantic lead he was in the movie with completely fell in love with him. And he was known for being such a hard worker. In fact, even an urban cowboy, he didn't want to use a stunt double. So he did all of the stunts himself, including had a mechanical bull. installed in his own home two months before shooting and he brought in this like a super stuntman

and his name was Chris Howell who taught him like he'd like trained him every single day so that he could do all the stunts himself that's awesome yeah man and just getting jacked doing this too like just in the best shape ever yada yada yada so how the fuck

did he turn out in the 80s big major downturn for him this is going to be his first huge low since before his career began. It was a series of failures. I don't even know these movies. Two of a kind with Olivia Newton-John. Do you remember that one?

I did not see that one, but I saw it in this, you know, and going through all this stuff. Perfect with Jamie Lee Curtis. Don't know it. What is that movie? I have never even heard of that.

That's how big of a flop this is. This is, by the way, the biggest fucking name out there, and I've never even heard of the follow-ups after Urban Cowboy. And then this movie, I do know, but only as one of the worst movies ever made. So now actually he's in two of the notable worst movies of brain.

Staying Alive, the terrible sequel to Saturday Night Fever. Did you see, wait, you saw, you haven't seen Saturday Night Fever, but you've seen staying alive? I've seen like parts of it. I've seen it on shows where they talk about like the worst movies, like it's on the lit. You know what I mean? Like it's just known to be. Well, I mean, I definitely said this somewhere in these notes where it's like he's, he's

won more golden raspberries, like the bad movie awards and he has any other award, the Razies, yeah. Yeah, yeah, Golden Raspberry is very funny if you've never heard of it before, just look into it. I mean, I feel kind of bad because it's kind of like, it's just shitting on bad movies, but it is also funny. Shout us to Hallie Berry, by the way, who actually showed up and accepted her rassey in person for Catwoman. Good for her. Look up that acceptance speech online. It is hilarious.

She is such a great sport. She's just laughing her ass off the whole time, talking about how fucking terrible the movie is. Because she knows, because that's a thing, especially if you know how, but, like, I think what the emoji movie one last year. I feel like everybody kind of knew the emoji movie is not going to be groundbreaking. Right, right. And by the way, and if you also,

speaking of Catwoman, I know this is going to get a lot of topic, if you haven't seen the basketball scene in Catwoman, prepare yourself for one of the worst movie moments ever made. It is so uncomfortable. It's like a bunch of kids watching her play basketball sexily with this guy. Yeah, it's

unbelievably great. I saw that movie in the theater for some what? What? Because I loved Catwoman. And I was like, well, I mean, it's Halliberry. And Halliberry's really sexy. I love Catwoman. So I'll go see it. I think she won.

Didn't she win the Oscar the same year? It was something crazy like that. It was something like that. For Monsters Ball. So around this time, by the way. Oh, oh. Then he does have a bit of, he does. The problem is these aren't really looked at as like great movies, great films.

Right. But the look who's talking movies were a nice little pocket of success for him, even though it wasn't necessary. Like, he still wasn't re-legitomized like he was going to be re-legitimized by Pulp Fiction. No, but Look Who's Talking was definitely, like, the first commercially successful film he had been in since staying alive. Yes, or Urban Cowboy, right?

I think that was 1980. And so that, yeah, it's, and also, oh, I was just going to ask you, do you think they hold up? Do the Look who's Talking movies hold up? I actually probably think that they do. I would definitely watch it again. I loved Kirstie Ellie in it, too, And also, Kirstiiani said that she definitely was completely in love with John Travolta while shooting those films.

But she was married and he was married, so they both just didn't act on it. Right, right. But she's another Scientology head. And she's another like, whoa, co-do-c-c-c-do. So around this time, he married actress Kelly Preston. Yeah, they were on the film. They were doing a film together called The Experts, which is another movie I have not heard of. Have not heard of it.

And they were also in, she was actually, this is, again, why I think that he's pansexual. Or something, yes, what do he plays? His flutes? The flute with the goat hubs. Kelly Preston was married to someone else when they were shooting this movie, and he was very, like, they were very into each other. And after the movie, she gets a divorce. He waited for her, and then he almost, like, immediately proposed. Interesting.

Or do you think it was, because it's just, there's a difference between him and Tom. Cruz. Tom Cruise, they are contracts. Tom Cruise, it feels very contractual. I think it's proven that there are contracts. I think John Tra is a little bit, has a little bit more, he seems to just have a bit more heart. Yeah, going on. He's got a little bit more.

And I think he's more just a little bit scared of, of what is on the inside because he's never been able to really truly confront himself. Right. At all. And of course, this is all speculation. I just, I see him as a person. Yeah, that's the problem.

is that you don't, he seems very, with as much heart as he's got, you know, he's also so closed off. I feel like you never really, like, you never really see him talk super openly about. But I think it's because he doesn't, I don't think he can. You know what I mean?

Like, I think that, like, you start that young of an age, and coming from a, such an artistic, entertainment business family, that you are taught, that you just, like, you are the business.

Like, you, you work for you, you have to like present yourself in such a certain way because he never wanted people in his life. Yeah. You know what I mean? I totally know what you mean. Again, it's all speculation. It is around this time.

There is a Time magazine cover story that came out called the Thriving Colt of Greed and Power, which alleged that John Travolta was wary of leaving the faith because he feared the church would publish detailed revelations of his private life, including his homosexual behavior. And this is, it is. Speculated that this was used as a bit of a chip to keep him a part of a part of the business of Scientology. I mean, which will make sense in what ends up happening, but we won't get there quite yet because we all know about what happened and everything else.

But still, this was later reiterated by Scientology defectors in Lawrence Wright's book, Going Clear, Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. Yes. Very interesting stuff going on there. And again, there's so much stuff behind the curtain. This is the Wizard of Oz of celebrity stories. There is so much going on behind the curtain that we cannot be revealed to us.

Well, then that's the whole thing too, where I wonder if Scientology must have had something to do with the fact that not only did he turn down the roles, the lead male roles in American Gigolo, and an officer and a gentleman, which both those parts went to Richard Geer. But he was also told to turn down the lead male role in Splash, which Tom Hanks ended up getting. And then again, he was offered the role of Forrest Gump, and he also turned that down. Oh, man, I didn't know about Forest Gond. I was wondering when you were like, oh, we'll get to Forest Gump. Yeah, because I was reading through that. I was like, what?

Because it has to have something. I don't know what. But it has to have something to do with Scientology about those four huge movies that he was not allowed to say yes to. So he is in this rut. He is in this just terrible. The 80s just sucked for Jontra, just in general, career-wise at least. Maybe he had some good times.

He got married, whatever, love is real, whatever. But it's not until the 90s when John Travolta takes a step in a new direction with his career. Mike Simpson said, who was John Travolta's agent, John Travolta was at that time as cold as they get. He was less than zero. They were barely able to get him cast in Pulp Fink. because shithead Harvey Weinstein didn't want him in. It took a lot of convincing.

Tarantino always wanted him. He spent time with heroin addicts to prepare for his role. It was, you know, like all over, like, literally like going to Skid Row and stuff like that. And Pulp Fiction is, if you weren't around for when that movie dropped, Pulp Fiction was this massive cultural revolution. in film. I remember like, no, like everyone was talking about it when that movie went into theater. I was in high school and I was like, I wasn't one of the cool kids who went and saw it in the theater. I was almost a little afraid of the movie based on some of the stuff I had heard about it.

Now, I didn't see it until a blockbuster when I rented it as I wasn't old enough to actually see in the theater, but I had a couple of cool kid friends who their parents let them like go with them to see it. But man, that movie changed everything. And I remember even not knowing that John Travolta had been going through a slump in the 1980s, I just remember how huge of a story it was that he was back, that he had returned. Yeah. It was like Pulp Fiction,

this groundbreaking, industry changing film, that was number one story, but the number two story was John Travolta makes this huge comeback in this movie. Up to being nominated for the best actor Oscar. And just all this, like, I mean, you know, and their time is, just like he was worried. He was like, I don't know if I should be shooting heroin and doing all

this crazy stuff. And, you know, he went back and forth on it. But it ended up deciding finally to just go for it and take this big risk. I mean, you can't think of Pulp Fiction without John Travolta. He's such a massively important part of that film. He's also amazing in it. I would love to see the kind of work that he did in Pulp Fiction that caliber again, you know? because I don't think we've ever quite seen it. Maybe face off, you could argue face off. I mean, he is incredible. And by the way, this is what launches that part of his career.

Get Shorty, Broken Arrow, Face Off, and of course, the supernatural classic drama film, Phenomenon. Oh, God. And also, but then this is the problem. He got too big of a head. Yeah. Like, I he... Literally, I think his head actually...

Got bigger. Got three sizes that. Because if you're going to make a battlefield Earth, how dare you ask? He asked for $20 million to make Michael. Yes. Like, Michael is not a good movie. No. Neither is a phenomenon.

But then that was a thing, is that you can't have it all. You can't also use your little, not little, I mean, huge comeback to use your success to finally make Battlefield Earth, which Elron Hubbard himself had asked John Travolta to make back in 1982. Yes. It's been a dream project for Travolta since then. Essentially, Hubbard was like, I really want you to adapt

this to a film. Obviously, Hubbard is pretty much like a god to Travolta being the head of Scientology. He described the book and interviews Travolta did as, like Pulp Fiction in the year 3000, and also as like Star Wars

only better. That is. Not true. John Dervalta said, Battlefield Earth is the pinnacle of using my power for something. I told my manager, if we can't do the things now that we want to do, what good is the power? Let's test it and try to get things done that we believe in.

Well, and also I love too that Scientology is like, we have nothing to do with the movie. He is doing this of his own volition. And yet, it happened, the release date happened to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of Hubbard Scientology, dietetics. Interesting how that happens. That's all, by the way, this is the year 2000s, just marking the 2000s with your downfall

in the very first year. He first had a deal with MGM and then Fox, but both fell through and the project was moved to franchise pictures, which was run by a former dry cleaning mogul turned nightclub owner who specialized in rescuing stars pet projects. His name was Eli Samaha, who at one point said, Battlefield Earth is going to make people in Hollywood take notice of Eli Samaha. I'm not going to be the laughing stock anymore. It is considered one of the worst films

ever, the winner of seven Razzies. I don't know if you've ever watched Battlefield Earth. Have you seen it? I actually, Henry and I sat and I have seen Battlefield Earth and we watched it again last year because we were trying to show it to Natalie and we're like

swear, swear. It's bad but like you should watch it because it's hilariously bad. But the thing is you hit hour two, and then you realize, oh, we have another hour and change left. And it was like, we couldn't keep watching. I couldn't do it.

Yeah, it is so just. I haven't seen all of it. I've seen a lot of clips. I've seen a lot of, you know, done the whole thing. But it looks like also like a bad made-for-TV movie in the 90s. You know what I mean? Like the camera work is, it's cheap looking.

The effects are really. bad, you know, and then just the whole story, because this is the thing is Chivalta interviews tried to make it sound like, oh, Ron Hubbard is this, like, super respected novelist in the sci-fi community, but honestly, he wrote the most books

ever, because he just wrote a bunch of schlock. Because it's all sci-fi, it's just churned out the schlachs. Yeah. So, it's ridiculous. It's just, it's a terrible story, it's a terrible movie, everything about it's just god-awful, and their big feet. Remember their big feet? And also, the way that their braids hung

down from the middle of their neck. They look so gross. Like, they just look gross. Yes. You know what I mean? And like a not cool, like in a bad, not cool way. And you can just see how much money was poured into it. Oh, yeah.

It's crazy. And also he tried to get Tarantino to direct to Battlefield Earth as well. And surprisingly, he declined. There you go. What a shocker. What a shocker. So you've got your wild hogs old dogs year. here in the 2000s.

Domestic disturbance, lest we not forget. The downfall again of Travolta. You also, though, have a decent turn as Edna Turnballed in the remake of Hairspray. And I need to watch it. I have not seen

this Hairspray remake. I don't even think I've seen the original. I love John Waters, but for some reason, I've never sat down and actually watch hairspray. It's fun. I mean, I was definitely, you know, I've been I've sang so many songs from Hairspray. I would be dumb not to have watched both of them. But this is actually all during the same time with the passing away of John Travolta's kid.

Yes, JT's son at age 16 passed away in a weird, this is bizarre. It's just a seizure while on Christmas vacation in the Bahamas. So we had a disease called the Kawasaki disease, and it produced seizures. Now, the thing is that what was not released, until after Jets' untimely death while they were on vacation in the Bahamas is that he was autistic and he needed the medication. He needed his anti-seizure medication. But the Church of Scientology does not recognize autism as a disorder.

It does it not only does it not recognize autism. He thinks that the treatment of it is, like the treatment of mental illness is against its ideologies. So they never were even allowed to say that he had autism because according to Scientology doesn't exist. And in relation to chronic illness, they believe that the only reason a person can get ill is because they are in some way connected to a suppressive person. And a suppressive person is someone who is opposed to Scientology. And this is what's so fucked up about it too is he has said many times how helpful Scientology was to him in recovering from his son's death. He said, I will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid. I mean, Monday through Sunday, they didn't take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss and to make me feel that finally I could get through a day.

And so I'm so glad you did that work, Jackie, because I didn't understand that connection. It just smelled really fishy to me. That is so sad. It's so upsetting. It's so upsetting. I bet how a cult can manipulate you into thinking. that they're helping you. Yes.

When they're the cause of probably your most fundamental issues, you know? It is just so depressing. And that's why, of course, people are upset where it's just like, fuck John Travolta and Kelly Presson for taking their son off of seizure medication.

But if you truly believe that there's no way your son can be sick, that this is a myth of a disease, that, like, that's terrible. I'm not saying that obviously they are completely at fault, but that's terrifying. that a cult can get into your brain to really make you think that. Just brutal.

So let's move on to some lighter things like his piloting. Oh my God, he loves planes. He owns four aircraft and is a private pilot. As a child, his mother and three sisters, as we mentioned before, showbiz kids, they traveled often as theater performers. So John Trow would stand outside his house and wait for the planes to fly over his family home. That was what had got his first big love of airplanes. and flying. He started flying lessons in 1970. His estate in Ocala, Florida is located on Greystone

Airport and has its own runway and taxiway straight to his house. Isn't that insane? And even if he got his pilot's license at the age of 22, which like, that is difficult. It takes a lot to become a pilot. It is a lot of extra work. Really crazy. Of course, he probably, by that time, he was probably what, filthy rich from Codder, so he could at least afford it by that point. In 1992, by the way, he was flying and had a total electrical system failure while flying in a Washington National Airport. He had to make an emergency landing. And because of a risky air traffic controller, he almost collided with the Boeing 727, which is fucking crazy. And then, that would be back in 92 and he's still like very enthusiastically flies.

That's always a crazy thing to me with flying. The first time my plane starts like fucking up in a fundamental way. I'm like, I'm good. I'm done. I'm done. Like I did this for a while. It was nice. But he really loves flying. Travolta said in 2013, I fly almost every day. I fly from a low of three times a week to a high of five times a week. I am really flying quite a bit. He is flying quite a bit. Also, in 2012, an anonymous masseur filed the lawsuit against John Travolta claiming sexual assault, which Travolta denied. And the case was later dropped. Yeah, yeah. And then in 2014, there was a number. another pilot, his pilot partner said that they fucked a lot.

And also apparently, like, his co-pilot of, like, apparently he was in relationship with six, for six years with. Douglas Goderba, yes. And they signed an NDA at the end of their relationship so that he couldn't say anything about it. I just wish he could just be gay. I feel like he's definitely gay and I just wish he could be gay or pansexual, but. Yeah, I guess I just, like, I was trying to look into the allegations because I want to, I love John Travolta. And I don't want, you know. No one ever wants any of the allegations to be true, obviously.

But it is interesting that all of them have been, I don't think that they've been paid off. A lot of them, the, what is it, when they make the trial, just like they stop the trial in incognito trial. In Arbitration? I don't do that. We don't know. We don't know these things.

Dude, I can't fucking. So he's ever actually been charged with any of, like, to fruition with any of the allegations that have come up against him. But all that aside, I'm just happy, I will say that you know we got out of all of this hurt and all of this hard work? I think you might like it. Back in 2011, Olivia Newton-John received a Christmas card from one John Travolta that noted that the songs of Greece made them the best-selling duet in pop music history, which made them both realize that maybe people wanted to hear them sing more songs. Yes, we do. John Travolta said,

My desire was to make this Christmas an intimate album, not something too ostentatious or showy. I wanted people to be able to play it around the house or in the car during the holidays and make us part of your celebration. Gathering around the house listening to Christmas music has always been an important part of that time of the year to my family.

Every song is a cover of a Christmas classic, except I think you might like it, which was referred to as a sequel to you're the one that I want, and was written by John Ferrar, who wrote you're the one that I want. It is awful, and we love it. But then that's what's kind of fun, too, is that the homestead we are just discussing in Ocala, Florida, is where I think you might like it was filmed. Absolutely.

All the weird shots of families and soldiers in an airport is all shot on John Travolta's land. Also this album For an album that like Was definitely a flop kind of or whatever It features This album features Kenny G Barbara Streisand

Chikorea Tony Bennett and James Taylor What? All on that album Why am I not listening to the rest of the album? I mean it's all Christmas song It's such a bizarre And then I think you might like it too

being just this weird outlier that has nothing to do with Christmas just plopped into this Christmas album. No, they mention it's a wonderful life. They mentioned this wonderful life once in the chorus. Fantastic. Anything else you have to say about I think you might like it

and the album this Christmas, Jackie. I don't, but I think that this Christmas I'm probably going to listen to the entire album and you're going to have to hear me talk about it. I would love to. Also, one last note for me, I just want to say in 2016, he was phenomenal as Robert Shapiro in the American Crime Story,

The People versus OJ Simpson. I'm very glad that he has recently done great work. He's still capable of great work. He's still an amazing performer. Like, he still has it in him. It's really more just the projects he gets attached to. I think, you know, he has some questionable instincts when it comes to... Or Scientology keeps him in a fucking box, maybe.

Or it's all signed up. Or this whole episode would be so different if he had never been handed that fucking book working on the devil's playground. Who knows? Or maybe he never would have gotten anywhere. Yeah. You never know. Although I will say I didn't realize that not to bring it back around to current times, we were watching Three to Tango last week. Pitbull's music video with starring one John Travolta.

but the reason why John Travolta shaved his head at the beginning of this year is because he was inspired by Pet Bowl. Very nice. Yeah, well, hopefully this will be a turn for him then. A Pitbull inspired party, Jontra. I love it. That lights up the room, that twists around the room like that 15-year-old or how old was he, eight or what? 10. He was 10.

That 10-year-old tiny Johnny that twisted his heart away for 15 minutes on the stage while people got bored. I got to say, I love him. I love John Travolta. And I don't want my love for him to be taken away. I do love him, and I'm inspired by him. All right, we did it. Our first ever history lesson. We did it.

We did it. This is a long one, too. Well, that's good. It had to be. Yeah, well, there's just so much. We could not talk about all of it. It had to be for John Trajah. So I'm so glad.

I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm so glad we did this. This was a lot of fun. Thank you so much. We love you guys. Take care. And let us know what you think. Hell yeah.

Bye. Bye. I think you might like it. This show is made possible by listeners like you. Thanks to our ad sponsors. You can support our shows by supporting them. For more shows like the one you just listened to, go to lastpodcastnetwork.com.