John Travolta Shares Meaning Behind Viral Cannes Film Festival Look

Our favourite moment of this year’s Cannes Film Festival has to be John Travolta debuting a bold new look.

The two-time Oscar nominee and HuffPost UK fave premiered his directorial debut Propeller One-Way Night Coach at the film festival on Friday night, and delivered a fantastic viral moment when he hit the red carpet.

John made his way into the premiere sporting a beret and round spectacles, and has also been sporting variations of the look at other Cannes events, including accepting an honorary Palme D’Or.

Speaking to CNN about becoming an accidental viral sensation with his attire, the Grease star admitted he was just trying to emulate the filmmakers of old Hollywood.

“I’ve been around for over 50 years doing movies,” John explained. “But I can’t tell, when I look back, the difference between the events. And I said, ‘I’m a director this time – you’re an actor, play the part of a director, look like an old-school director’.

“So, I looked up pictures [from the] 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and the old-school directors wore berets and the glasses. And I thought, ‘that’s what I’m doing’. I’m going to do an homage to being a director.”

He continued: “So I’m going to play the part of being a director. And then, when I look back, I’ll know, ‘oh that was Propeller One-Way Night Coach, that was Cannes, that was when I won the Palme D’Or’. And I will have a vivid [memory] of it.”

Propeller One-Way Night Coach is based on the children’s book of the same name, and leans into John’s well-documented love of planes (he even piloted his own plane to Cannes for his film’s premiere).

He was joined at the premiere by his daughter, Ella Travolta, who plays a flight attendant named Doris in the movie.

Watch the trailer for Propeller One-Way Night Coach below, ahead of its Apple TV+ debut later this month: