John Travolta was moved to tears after receiving the surprise award.
The “Grease” star, 72, won the festival’s most coveted honor, the Palme d’Or, on May 15 at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, ahead of the screening of his new film. “Amazing completion,” he exclaimed in French while reacting to the festival’s version of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I can’t believe it. This is the last thing I expected,” he said while holding the trophy, as seen in a video shared by Variety.
He thanked director Thierry Frémaux at Cannes, describing the moment as “humbling” and saying, “This is beyond the Oscars.”
“When I met you in November, I didn’t expect that my film would be accepted, and when Thierry told me that this film was not only accepted, but that I was making history because it was the first film to be accepted so quickly, I cried like a baby, because I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “Because I think you’re one of the most discerning people in the film industry. I’m so happy to be here! I didn’t expect this to happen.”
The two-time Oscar nominee made his directorial debut with Propeller Night Bus, an adventure film about a boy and his mother traveling across the country in search of Hollywood, available on Apple TV on May 29. The film is an adaptation of Travolta’s 1997 children’s book of the same name.
Travolta was awarded the honorary Palme d’Or this year, along with Peter Jackson and Barbra Streisand, but unlike them, he was not informed in advance.
John Travolta says his sister and mother inspired his new movie
After the screening, he and Fremaux discussed how the “Pulp Fiction” actor’s love of aviation began at a young age, according to Variety.
Travolta revealed that he cried when Frémaux told him five months ago that the film had been selected for the film festival. He also thanked his family in the crowd for being the film’s “reason for existing and actually the reason I exist as an artist.”
“My oldest sister Ellen was exactly this character and the star of this movie, but it’s really a mixture of my sister and my mother because they both had such a deep influence on me that they were responsible for all my hopes and dreams and watched me realize them,” he continued. “This is a little taste of my origins and what I was like when I was little. I hope you enjoy it. It means a lot to me that you’re here.”
Travolta previously attended the Cannes Film Festival for screenings of Pulp Fiction (1994), She’s So Lovely (1997), and Primary Colors (1998).
