He walks in the room and his ocean blue eyes light up when he sees the young and eager faces gazing at him in awe. The legendary actor is in Boston promoting his new film “Basic,” which opened March 28 to rave reviews.
In the movie, John Travolta is former military Army Ranger Tom Hardy, who is called on by his good friend Bill Styles (Tim Daly) to take over an investigation. The problem at hand is that renowned Sergeant Nathan West (Samuel L. Jackson) and his soldiers are missing in the middle of a treacherous hurricane in Panama.
The lone survivors of this mini battalion are Rangers Dunbar (Brian Van Holt) and Kendall (Giovanni Ribisi). These two men are Hardy’s only road to the truth and the pressure is on. Hardy has less than six hours to get to the core of the problem, because once Dunbar and Kendall are shipped off to Washington they will be free of interrogation. Hardy works closely with Captain Julia Osborne (Connie Neilsen) who is upset because Hardy was brought in to help her with the inspection.
With many unexpected twists and turns and a cast that includes Taye Diggs, Roselyn Sanchez and Harry Connick, Jr. this film is anything but basic.
The Northeastern News had the opportunity to talk with the actor.
Northeastern News: What made you want to do this movie?
John Travolta: There were several factors. I like the character, he’s kind of like a mastermind. He’s cool, he’s smart and he’s funny. There’s a lot of freedom to play him. The story got very interesting because it kept on taking twists and turns and I didn’t know what was happening. And then that cool ending, and I thought wow, this was worth the whole movie. Sam was obvious, I wanted to do a movie with him since Pulp Fiction.
The News: What did you do to prepare for the role?
Travolta: Getting in shape and I went to Ranger school; that was very interesting. It was two-fold for me because I did everything the guys did, I crawled on the ground, I shot guns, I shot grenades in bunkers. I did all the things that they did and then the next day the whole battalion went to the Middle East. They were so generous in letting me do all the stuff I needed to do to prepare as an actor. I looked up on the internet all the data of the kind of jobs he had and other military positions.
The News: Do you do your own stunts?
Travolta: I don’t really want to, but sometimes you have to because if you don’t, it looks kind of stupid. I’m forced to do stunts more than I really want. I’m not one of these guys who can’t wait to do the stunts. I reluctantly do the stunts.
The News: Do you prefer singing and dancing over stunts?
Travolta: I don’t know if I prefer it, I like it. I don’t know how much you know about the New Yorker actor syndrome, you go to N.Y. you learn how to sing, you learn how to dance, you learn how to act, you have three chances at a job. That’s what Richard Gere did, that’s what I did, that’s what Farrah Fawcett did. We all sing and dance, it’s just a matter of is there a movie for me to sing and dance it’s a matter of survival.
The News: Do you ever feel type casted?
Travolta: Never. I get to play everything in the book I’m one of the luckiest actors going.
