John Travolta's career has had its up and downs, and lately he has been on an upward roll. His latest film, Battlefield Earth, hits theaters Friday. In his capacity as entertainment reporter, The Early Show's Mark McEwen sat down with Travolta to talk about this film and his family life.
Travolta calls Battlefield Earth his labor of love. The film, based on L. Ron Hubbard's novel of the same name, takes place in the year 3000. He plays Terl, a nine-foot alien villain, who believes he was destined to conquer galaxies, but is stuck on Earth fighting humans.
"It's such an entertaining piece of literature and an entertaining piece of film," he says.
When he was first looking at the property years ago, he thought he might play the hero. But, as he started to play villains (in such movies as Face/Off and Pulp Fiction), he says he thought, "It just may be natural to move into that."
He and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, have two children, Jett and Ella Bleu, and Travolta says he is "ready for as many children who want to come my way."
JOHN TRAVOLTA'S BIOGRAPHY:
Born the youngest of six children, February 18, 1954 in Englewood, N.J.Along with his siblings, he grew up performing in the miniature theater his father built in their basement. His mother was a high school drama teacher.By the age of 12, he joined a local theater group and appeared in musicals and dinner-theater performances. He also took tap lessons from Gene Kelly's brother Fred.At 16, he dropped out of high school to pursue a theatrical career. Two years later he appeared in Rain, an Off-Broadway production, and was cast in a minor role for the touring company of Grease.In 1975, he made his Broadway debut in the World War II musical Over Here, playing opposite the Andrews Sisters, Ann Reinking and Treat Williams. The same year, he received his first role in the horror film The Devil's Rain and was cast in the television sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, becoming the teen idol of the day.At the height of his success, he recorded Can't Let Go, John Travolta, and Travolta Fever, scoring a hit with the single "Let Her In." He even received a Best Male Vocalist award from Billboard.In 1976, he appeared in the Brian DePalma classic Carrie. Soon after, he was cast in Randal Kleiser's TV feature, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. His performance earned him critical acclaim. It was during this time that he joined the Church of Scientology after his lover, actress Diana Hyland, who had played his mother in the film, died of cancer.In 1977, he earned his first Academy Award nomination for his role in Saturday Night Fever, becoming an icon of his generation.In 1978, Travolta starred in the film adaptation of Grease, achieving more box-office success.But not eveything was great for Travolta that year; his performance in the film Moment by Moment opposite Lily Tomlin was panned by critics.In 1980, Travolta played a Texas oil worker in Urban Cowboy and the following year he went on to work again for DePalma in Blow Out, but by then Travolta's career was falling from grace. Other lackluster films like Two of a Kind, Perfect and The Experts followed in the early '80s.1989 was a better year for Travolta. He co-starred with Kirstie Alley in the low budget comedy Look Who's Talking , a box-office winner that led to two more sequels. In 1991, he married Kelly Preston and their son Jett was born the following year. In 1994, he made an incredible comeback starring in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, and received an Oscar nomination. More success followed with Get Shorty, Phenomenon, Face/Off, and A Civil Action.On April 3, 2000 his daughter Ella Bleu was born.