John Travolta, the man who – whippet svelte and white suit spivvy – embodied disco action of the Seventies and Eighties, admits he pines for the dance floor and is looking to make a comeback.
Saying he watched the soft shoe shuffle shenanigans of singing and dancing blockbusters such as Moulin Rouge and Chicago with envy, the now middle-aged and bulkier star confessed, "I do miss it."
The protagonist of disco classics Grease and Saturday Night Fever made his most recent excursion onto the dance floor in the 1994 cult flick Pulp Fiction, in which he turns in a memorable performance of the "cat-eye" with co-star Uma Thurman.
The 49-year-old actor, who has been busy recently piloting jets for the Australian airline Qantas, has also been working on getting himself back into shape. He shed more than 25lbs for the new military thriller Basic, in which he shows off some lean pecs and an impressive six-pack while lathering up in a shower scene. And since finishing the movie the actor has kept up the two-hour-a-day, six-day-a-week exercise regime he used to prepare for the role.
Newly buff, John is now looking to lace on his dancing shoes once more, talking about remaking the movie musicals Pal Joey and Guys And Dolls. "Travolta has always been a great dancer with grace and sex appeal," says David Schwartz, chief curator of film at the American Museum of the Moving Image. "People just love watching him move, which you can't say about any other movie star."
A recent offer to play Billy Flynn in the Oscar-winning musical Chicago was turned down three times, however. "All that was offered to me was that I was going to be the glue, this musical guy, who was going to bring everybody together," he says. "I was waiting for someone to sit me down and tell me what they were going to do with it."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
