{"id":162880,"date":"2026-05-16T11:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tie2.lt\/?p=162880"},"modified":"2026-05-16T11:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:43:11","slug":"more-than-an-oscar-in-cannes-john-travolta-received-an-unexpected-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tie2.lt\/en\/more-than-an-oscar-in-cannes-john-travolta-received-an-unexpected-award\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMore Than an Oscar\u201d: In Cannes, John Travolta Received an Unexpected Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
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AFP-BNS<\/p>\n

Hollywood star John Travolta<\/span><\/span> received a surprise lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival<\/span><\/span> on Friday.<\/p>\n

The honor was presented during the premiere of the first film he has directed.<\/p>\n

The actor, who became an icon overnight thanks to his role in Saturday Night Fever<\/span><\/span>, was visibly emotional as he accepted an honorary Palme d\u2019Or before the screening of Propeller One-Way Night Coach<\/span><\/span>, a film based on a book about his first experience on an airplane.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just can\u2019t believe it. This is truly more than an Oscar,\u201d he said while accepting the tribute.<\/p>\n

This year, the festival has shown special affection for Hollywood legends despite the absence of major studios: honorary Palme d\u2019Or awards were also presented to Barbra Streisand<\/span><\/span> and Peter Jackson<\/span><\/span>, while a gala screening honored Vin Diesel<\/span><\/span>and the stars of the The Fast and the Furious<\/span><\/span> franchise for its 25th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Travolta, who has never won an Oscar, revived his career with the cult role of hitman Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino<\/span><\/span>\u2019s Pulp Fiction<\/span><\/span>, which won the festival\u2019s top prize, the Palme d\u2019Or, in 1994.<\/p>\n

Many critics called it the best performance of his career, one that has already become part of cinema history.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite films throughout my life have always been Palme d\u2019Or winners,\u201d Travolta said.<\/p>\n

Behind the Camera<\/h3>\n

Cannes kept the award secret until the actor, dressed in a black suit and white beret, stepped onto the stage during the premiere.<\/p>\n

The 72-year-old said he was deeply surprised that his directorial debut \u2014 featuring his daughter Ella Bleu Travolta<\/span><\/span> as a flight attendant \u2014 had been accepted into the world\u2019s most prestigious film festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Cannes director Thierry Fr\u00e9maux<\/span><\/span> told me in November that \u2018this will be the first film accepted so early,\u2019 I cried like a baby,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect my film to be accepted,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Propeller One-Way Night Coach<\/span><\/span> is a one-hour self-financed autobiographical story about eight-year-old John flying with his actress mother from New York to Los Angeles in 1962.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the blueprint of my life,\u201d said the actor, a lifelong aviation enthusiast who also narrates the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you will see in the film is entirely my perspective on what I saw people going through. Everyone who was in the film is sitting in the audience \u2014 my family,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Born in New Jersey<\/span><\/span> to an Irish mother and an Italian-American father who owned a tire shop, Travolta dropped out of school at 16 to pursue acting and dancing.<\/p>\n

Two years later, he landed his first major role in the Broadway musical Grease<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

In 1978, he received an Oscar nomination for playing disco dance champion Tony Manero in the low-budget hit Saturday Night Fever<\/span><\/span>, while his role in the film adaptation of Grease<\/span><\/span> launched him into Hollywood stardom that same year.<\/p>\n

Travolta said that Apple<\/span><\/span> acquired the rights to Propeller One-Way Night Coach<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he plans to direct again, he said that throughout his acting career he had observed many different directors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe I can navigate all of that and anything I choose to do, but I also feel I need to be passionate about the material in order to do again what I did here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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