John Travolta has opened up about dedicating his new film, Propeller One-Way Night Coach, to his late son, Jett Travolta, and his late wife, Kelly Preston. The actor's son passed away in 2009 at the age of 16 after suffering a seizure. John's wife, died in 2020 at the age of 57, two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer,
The 72-year-old spoke about his new movie and how he has coped with the loss of his family with Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "I dedicated the film to Kelly, to my son Jett, to my brothers and sisters, to my mother and my father, because they are the model from which this film was born," he said.
When asked how he manages to remain optimistic despite experiencing profound pain, he told the publication that, while "life has certainly tested me," it's his "nature is to look for the positive, even in the face of the worst."
© WireImage via Getty Images"I'm not made to remain absorbed in the darkness. I can look at the darkness, but I don't choose to die in that darkness," he added.
Inspired by his 1997 semi-autobiographical book of the same name, the film chronicles the actor's first flight as a child in 1962 through the eight-year-old protagonist, Jeff. "I wanted this sincerity," he shared of the film. "A child's hope and resilience are unique; we adults have forgotten what that means. As a child, I always looked at the glass half full; I thought life could be better."
John continued: "Even when I heard terrible news, like when the film talks about the concentration camps, or when the madman appears, he sees darkness and pain, then quickly gets up again."
© Getty ImagesThe actor said that viewers will "rediscover that gaze of hope," explaining that back in 1962, "we weren't so overwhelmed by the obligation to always look at the dark side of life."
© AFP via Getty ImagesPropeller One-Way Night Coach premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, with John being honoured with the Palme d'Or. John's daughter, Ella Bleau Travolta, stars as Doris, a flight attendant in the new movie. John first attended Cannes in 1994 for the screening of Pulp Fiction.
"I was sitting there with my wife at the screening at the Palais. The scene from Jack Rabbit Slims arrives, the one where Uma [Thurman] and I enter the restaurant. My character is high, high, in that kind of daze," he shared. "I watch the Marilyn Monroe and James Dean lookalikes walk by, I point at them with that gesture, and the editing cuts to the back of my neck. My wife grabs me and says, 'Honey, do you realize what this film is about?' I discovered it along with the world. It's my strongest memory."
