John Travolta was emotionally overwhelmed when a surprise award brought him to tears.
At the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 15, the “Grease” star, 72, was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or, the festival’s most coveted honor, before a screening of a new film he directed. “Surprise complétement,” he yelled in French as he reacted to the festival’s version of a lifetime achievement award.
“I can’t believe this. This is the last thing I expected,” he said as he held the trophy, as seen in a video shared by Variety.
He thanked Cannes director Thierry Fremaux, described the moment as “humbling” and said, “This is beyond the Oscar.”
“When I met with you in November, I had no expectation that my film would be accepted. 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,” he said. “Because in my opinion, you are the most discerning person in the movie industry. I was just happy to be here! I never expected this.”
The two-time Oscar nominee made his directorial debut with “Propeller One-Way Night Coach,” an adventure film about a young boy and his mother who travel across the country to Hollywood, available on AppleTV on May 29. The movie is an adaptation of a 1997 children’s book of the same name that Travolta wrote.
Travolta joins Peter Jackson and Barbra Streisand in being awarded an honorary Palme d’Or this year, though unlike them, he was not notified prior.
Credit: yahonews.com
