Douglas Thmopson - Author and International Journalist

 


‘He's here on earth to help some people out. He eats too much sugar and the women like him because he smells like chocolate chip cookies. It's such a funny premise.

‘Michael first appears on screen in a big pair of boxer shorts. He's a warrior, yes, but he has been through so many historical events that he's just thrashed. As I say, even his wings are dirty.

‘One of the reasons I took the film is because ‘'Michael'' is so much fun. I don't reckon we're trying to convert anyone into believing in angels --we just want them to have a good time. And feel going is angelic, isn't it?'

The movie which has the ravishing Andie MacDowell and Oscar-winner William Hurt thinking less than angelic thoughts is anticipated as one of Hollywood'yet another endorsement of Travolta's $20 million dollars a picture clout and celebrity.

It was his anxiety -- remember he was an icon in the ‘Seventies and just an afterthought in the ‘Eighties before becoming a ‘Nineties sensation -- to retain his status that made his walk-out on Roman Polanski's film ‘The Double' earlier this year.

As he sits way back in his chair, relaxed and confident in the suite of a Manhattan hotel, Travolta, toned and trim in a dark suit and white polo shirt, appears to have no concerns in the world. But there's just the $20 million dollar pay day he's walked away from, the impending lawsuits and the chaos of a movie which has crashed only days before it was to begin filming.

Travolta is absolutely certain he did the right thing by leaving Paris and the set of Polanski's film. In the he movie in which he was to co-star with John Goodman and Isabelle Adjani he was to play an American accountant in Paris who finds his life being taking over by another man also played by Travolta. He had been looking forward to working with Polanski but when he arrived in France things were not as he expected.

Despite the controversy he is calm and slow as he talks fully about the multi-million dollar debacle . He says he and his actress wife Kelly Preston had concerns about the health of their four-year-old son Jett who doctors had said needed an ear operation. He said he was worried about his son and the film so he did what he always does when he senses trouble -- flew off.

Faxes and lawyers' letters crisscrossed the Atlantic and when it became clear that Travolta wasn't returning the film company hired Steve Martin to replace Travolta with an upfront salary of $12 million -- $8 million less than their original leading man. Later, the project was abandoned. Travolta remains unrepentant:

‘I have more to lose than everybody. Not only the salary which was very nice but the litigation. I felt that I needed to be able to give the production what they paid for but the changes in the script were so big for me that I couldn't do it well.

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