Travolta taps creative second wind in 'Phenomenon'
July 6, 1996
Web posted at: 7:15 p.m. EDT
From Correspondent Mark Scheerer
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Movie star John Travolta's career has twice
been categorized as "phenomenal" -- once in the days of
"Welcome Back Kotter" and "Saturday Night Fever" and again in
the '90s with his "Pulp Fiction" comeback.
His latest movie, "Phenomenon," promises to live up to his
renewed reputation.
The phenomenon, a flash of light from nowhere, hits
Travolta's character, George Malley, on his 37th birthday.
Once struck, he is suddenly endowed him with a
million-megabyte upgrade, complete with telekinetic powers.
You could call this movie "Smart and Smarter."
From then on, Travolta says his character "experiences an
unusual urge for learning things, increased capacity for
comprehending knowledge and he gets on a roll that's almost
too much for him to handle."
He copes by sharing his new talent with others. "The more he
gets in, the more he puts out for everyone. He can't sleep
very well, but he's dealing with it the best he can,"
Travolta said.
Some of the script carries overtones of Scientology, the
religion created by the late writer L. Ron Hubbard. However,
although Travolta is one of a number of celebrity Scientology
followers, he wouldn't call the movie a Scientology thesis.
"It is an original story of its own that has some
metaphysical concepts, but mostly I think it's a story of the
human condition and the human heart," he said. "It's very
entertaining. I don't want to make it sound like it's a
static piece. It's quite unusual and original."
With "Phenomenon" out of the way, Travolta is now angling for
a part in a Steven Spielberg movie musical starring Barbra
Streisand.
"It's up to Steven and Barbra. I'm there, you know, if they
want to do it, I'll do it. If they don't, I'll do another
path, I guess. But Barbra and I have always wanted to work
together."
For now, he makes beautiful music with co-star Kyra Sedgwick,
and hopes that "Phenomenon" will be just that.
Related stories:
Related sites:
![[Imagemap]](/SHOWBIZ/images/9601/navbar.gif){kind=small}