Pop Culture | Celebrities | 70s
John Travolta Re-Enacted His Iconic Dance From 'Grease' And It's Still Electrifyin'
John Travolta is one of those stars that manages to keep on shining after all of these years. His career has been a real roller coaster of amazing highs and almost hilarious lows, but through it all he remains an icon.
Travolta has had a pretty busy couple of weeks. He's got a new movie coming out, but because it's also the 40th anniversary of Grease this year, he has been spotted out and about all over the world.
He was dancing at a 50 Cent concert, he was commenting on fan theories, and now he has gone onto the popular talk show The Tonight Show to continue the celebrations with Jimmy Fallon.
He stopped by to talk about his new movie Gotti, but obviously Fallon wasn't going to let him go without discussing the dances that helped make Travolta a star.
After complimenting him profusely on his singing and dancing throughout the movie, Travolta admitted that the one step that Fallon was obsessing over was actually his addition to the choreography.
"The four corners! Like in Pulp Fiction, I grew up in all these novelty dances. So in Grease they needed a step for "You're the One That I Want" at the end. So I said, 'Well, we used to do the four corners, why don't we do that?'"
The choreographer apparently had Travolta show him the simple move, and with that it became a part of the dance.
Travolta even took a minute to show Fallon how to do it. It's just a real simple step process that is as easy as it sounds, but somehow, even after all these years, Travolta still makes it look good.
This isn't the only movie people have been celebrating recently. Saturday Night Fever came out in 1977 and while it's not any special anniversary this year, it's still iconic.
The opening sequence when Tony Manero orders a double-decker slice of pizza apparently turned the real Lenny's Pizza into a tourist destination, with people still flocking there to copy his order.
To celebrate, Travolta visited Lenny's Pizza and got to try out the slice that was named in his honor. The best part about the whole thing? He wore a white blazer and black shirt, just like in the movie.
It's nice that Travolta still appreciates his past, because his movies still mean so much to so many people.
He's been pretty open to hearing from his fans over the years, even when things go a little haywire with some of the more out there theories.
One that he's actually commented on recently was the theory that Sandy died at the beginning of Grease.
Even though it would make the whole plot of the movie basically a dream before she died, that's what a lot of people like to pretend happened. They claim it explains the flying car at the end, it's Sandy going off to heaven.
The theory that Sandy died when the two were hanging out on the beach may seem completely insane, but Travolta thinks it's great.
"I love it, imaginations are awesome. These things are bound to happen to something timeless like this. It's so fun."
But he was quick to shut down the theory because he knows that's not what the screenwriters were intending.
"I could have fun with it. But I know the writers of 'Grease', and I was around in the original days. I can't take it too far."
Travolta is one of those stars that seems to be completely timeless. He has been such a common presence over the last 40 years that it's hard to imagine Hollywood without him.
The actor may be one of the most famous people in the world, but there are some things about his life that people don't know.
For example, did you know he actually got his start by releasing a song called "Let Her In" when he was only 22 years old. He performed it on TV wearing a burnt orange turtle neck with a gold chain over top and it's a definite style choice... Not sure if it's a good one or not.
Hard to believe that the guy in that orange turtle neck would go on to play one of Hollywood's favorite heartthrobs, isn't it?
Not only was he dreamy in the movies, people all over the world seemed to have a crush on him, including royalty.
In the 80s, Travolta was invited to President Reagan's Grand Gala and he was asked to dance by none other than Princess Diana.
That's right, Travolta got asked to dance by a princess and apparently it was a real highlight for both of them.
“I’ll never forget it. I’m so honored that I was able to experience this and I know that for a fact that it was her highlight in being in the United States. So it was her favorite moment. I feel like I made her life better. She made my life better. I’m very sorry she’s not here.”
As impressive as dancing with a princess is, it's just the tip of the ice berg. His house is actually one of the most insane places imaginable.
He's actually got it set up as his own personal airport because the actor is also a licensed commercial pilot and owns his own planes.
His house even has a runway that connects right to an airport so he can board at his house and then just take off and go.
But no matter what he has done in his life, I think we can all agree that his role as Danny Zuko is what we know him best for. But honestly, I think he might be okay with that.
Everyone loves Grease and the actors know that their chemistry was something special, and they credit that to a little bit of a secret flirtation that was going on behind the scenes.
"We both had a crush on each other. It created great chemistry," Travolta admitted. The two actors are still very good friends and when they reunite it's always something special.
It's so refreshing to see an actor who enjoyed his time enough on set that he's still happy to talk about it. Even though he's done so much in his career it's nice to know he gets why we are all so obsessed with that movie!
John Travolta is a true icon, and has been around for so long now, but there's still some things about him a lot of people don't know.
It's also nice that after all these years he still gets together with his former Grease costars and re-enacts some of the iconic moments.