John Travolta Reveals How His Directorial Debut Inspired Cannes Look

Originally appeared on E! Online

John Travolta is revealing the phenomenal vision behind his Cannes Film Festival look.

After the Phenomenon star stepped out at the prestigious screening event donning a new look, which included a beret and circular eyeglasses, he shared what inspired the now-viral ensemble.

“I’ve been around for over 50 years doing movies but I can’t tell, when I look back, the difference between the events,” John told CNN in an interview published May 18. “And I said, ‘I’m a director this time. You’re an actor. Play the part of a director.’”

“So, I looked up pictures—20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. And the old school directors wore berets and the glasses,” he added. “And I thought, ‘That’s what I’m doing.’ I’m gonna do an homage to being a director. So, I’m going to play the part of being a director.”

He also noted that the standout fashion moment would not only allow him to better remember the evening, but allow the memory to “have vividness of it.”

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The Grease star attended the May 15 screening of Karma alongside his and late wife Kelly Preston‘s 26-year-old daughter Ella Bleu Travolta. Alongside his statement accessories, the 72-year-old also wore a black three-piece suit and a white collared shirt that matched his hat.

Ella, for her part, opted for a sleeveless black evening gown with velvet detailing, which she accessorized with Chopard jewelry and black pointed-toe heels.

Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Though the Saturday Night Fever actor’s appearance marked his first at the Cannes Film Festival since 2018, what made the event a night to remember was when John—who returned to the event to make his directorial debut Propeller One-Way Night Coach—received a surprise honorary Palme d’Or award from Cannes director Thierry Fremaux.

“This is beyond the Oscar,” the Hairspray actor told the crowd on May 15, per Variety. “Surprise complétement! I can’t believe this. This is the last thing I expected.”

In fact, John—also dad to Benjamin Travolta, 15, and late son Jett Travolta—called the honor a “humbling moment.”

“I had no expectation that my film would be accepted,” he said of Propeller One-Way Night Coach, based on his 1997 children’s book of the same name. “And when Thierry said it was not only accepted but it was making history because it would be the first film ever accepted that early, I cried like a baby because I just couldn’t believe it.”

John Travolta — Amy Sussman/Getty Images

He also shared the project was the “most personal film he’s ever done.”

“It’s really a mixture of my sister and my mother because they both influenced me so deeply,” he shared, “and they were responsible for all my hopes and dreams, and they watched me make them come true.”

He added, “So, this is just a little taste of my origins and what it was like to be me when I was little.”

To see more stars at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, read on.

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