http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/06/15/fox-reporter-scientologists-fired/
Ex-Fox reporter says celebrity Scientologists pushed to have him fired
By Stephen C. Webster
June 15, 2009
Former Fox entertainment columnist Roger Friedman said Monday that he plans to file a wrongful termination lawsuit against his prior employer.
Friedman, who was supposedly fired for reviewing a pirated copy of Wolverine, alleges that celebrity Church of Scientology members Tom Cruise and John Travolta’s wife, Kelly Preston, pressured network management to shake loose the columnist, who has been a critic of Scientology for some time.
“Last August, Friedman went to Memphis for the funeral of his friend and R&B legend Isaac Hayes, who was a Scientologist,” reported the New York Daily News. “Preston was also in town for the funeral. Friedman, who now writes for The Hollywood Reporter, tells us that when Preston saw him at the Peabody Hotel, Mrs. John Travolta loudly blasted him for his columns criticizing Scientology.”
“After [an] alleged meeting between Preston and the Fox executives, Friedman was forbidden from reporting on the death of Travolta’s son Jett, and was also told to take it easy on Tom Cruise’s film Valkyrie,” National Post noted.
“A source” told the Daily News that Tom Cruise may have pushed to have Friedman fired as a condition of his appearance in the upcoming 20th Century Fox comedy “Wichita.” Friedman added that once his review of “Wolverine” was published — which was approved by an editor before publication — Fox’s film studio began dictating the news operation’s next moves.
“Preston and Cruise’s lawyers both issued outright denials. Fox refused to comment,” Gawker noted. “And we might have a ball game.”
The suit will be filed in a New York federal court next week, Friedman’s attorney reportedly said.
Showing posts with label John Travolta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Travolta. Show all posts
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Baseless Accusations against John Travolta
http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000645_John_Travolta_Scientology_Freedom_of_Religion.html
Baseless Accusations against John Travolta Demonstrate Cruelty, Intolerance of Pill Pushers and Religion Bashers
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, January 5, 2009
Key concepts: John Travolta, Scientology and Freedom of Religion
The pill pushers of modern medicine are at it again, attacking John Travolta over the tragic death of his son, Jett, claiming (without any evidence, by the way) that Travolta was unwilling to keep his son on seizure medication and, therefore, was responsible for Jett falling and hitting his head, which led to his death.
The truth is that modern medicine's pill pushers are responsible for at least 98,000 deaths each year of American children, adults and senior citizens, and that's according to the conservative figures of the Journal of the American Medical Association. More reliable figures put the actual number of Americans killed by modern medicine (and all its pharmaceuticals) at 783,000 people a year. Yet there's no outrage about all those people who are killed by medicine. Instead, these pill pushers are focusing on the accidental death of a child belonging to a family of courageous citizens who have had the presence of mind to keep their child off psychiatric medications and focus on nutrition rather than drugs to support their child's health.
That pushers of conventional medicine would exploit this tragic death of John Travolta's son to attack both his sensibilities and his religious beliefs is yet another example of the cruelty of modern-day pill pushers. To them, the death of John Travolta's son is a "win" because in their minds, it "proves him wrong" about his belief system.
That's a delusional logic set, of course, because the nature of Jett's death (an accidental fall) has nothing whatsoever to do with Travolta's beliefs about protecting his child from psychiatric medications. At the same time, what about all those kids on SSRI drugs that end up committing suicide? The same people accusing Travolta today are never found blaming SSRI drugs for the suicidal actions of teens. To them, drugs are always good, and a lack of drugs is always bad. That's their religion in a nutshell.
Speaking of religion, I find it disgusting to watch people use this tragic death to level yet more attacks on the Church of Scientology. When Catholic priests rape their choir boys, it's all just hushed up and allowed to continue, but when a Scientologist suffers a random, tragic accidental death, they're subjected to relentless attacks that can only be called hate-motivated assaults on religious freedom.
For the record, I am not a Scientologist. I have, however, had the opportunity to personally meet many current and former members of the Church of Scientology, much like I know many members of the Mormon church, many of conservative Christian churches and of course lots of new age spiritual people who aren't associated with any organized religion at all. The one thing I've learned in all this is that those who would attack the members of another religion over their beliefs are violating their own Church, whatever Church that may be. Religious freedom, in the minds of too many people, only applies to YOUR OWN religion, not to other people's religions. And that's not religious freedom at all; that's just zealotry.
I am one of the few people you'll ever meet who truly, honestly and irrevocably believes in genuine religious freedom. What does that mean? It means that if I held a party at my house, you'd meet people there from all kinds of spiritual beliefs and backgrounds: Christians, Catholics, Scientologists, Mormons, Buddhists, Islamists, New Age Spiritualists and even some Athiests and Hinduists, too. And why is that? Because I know and respect people in each of these religious traditions, and I don't condemn people for following a religious belief system. The only "religion" I attack is what I call the "Cult of Pharmacology" which doesn't count as an organized religion in the first place.
I've noticed that there are various levels of tolerance among the population for attacking various religions. Attacking Scientology, for example, is considered "okay" by lots of people because Scientology seems strange to them. Attacking the Jewish religion, however, is considered a hate crime, even as Israelis are right now murdering innocent civilians in Gaza with a military assault that targets universities and schools. If you dare say anything against Israel, you're immediately considered a blasphemous hate crime promoter, and if you live in Germany, they can actually lock you up in prison for even questioning the official version of events like the Holocaust. Just ask David Irving, who actually spent time in prison for questioning the official explanation of the Holocaust.
By the way, I'm not a Holocaust denier, and I don't support David Irving's views. But I do support his right to EXPRESS his views without being arrested as a criminal.
Speaking of holocaust deniers, virtually all Americans are "Native American Holocaust Deniers" because the revisionist version of U.S. history taught in schools conveniently leaves out the Holocaust that was committed against the Native Americans by everybody from Christopher Columbus on down the line. So why aren't all the American people doing time in prison for denying the Holocaust committed against Native Americans? Because the White Man wrote the history books, of course!
My point in all of this is that very few people truly operate on anything even resembling truth, honesty or religious freedom. They simply attack opponents of their own limited views or beliefs, leaving no room for someone else to disagree on important issues like history or religion.
And this is ultimately why we have so much violence in our world: A culture of global intolerance dominates our world today. People cannot tolerate a competing belief system, or the questioning of "official" history, without being censored, arrested or imprisoned. Because freedom of speech is now considered a crime if it contradicts the beliefs of those in power.
These attacks on John Travolta demonstrate the amateurish, hate-filled assaults on religious freedom that permeate western culture. Most people only believe in religious freedom for their own religion. Most people only believe in freedom of speech for their own beliefs. And when it comes down to it, most people ultimately only believe that their OWN kind of people deserve to live in this world at all.
And that's one of the reasons why the human race remains such an immature, infant race that still hasn't emerged from its self-centered growth stage. Nations act like children (Israel throws a temper tantrum!), and almost no national leader is able to function like a healthy adult and focus on creating a brighter world for future generations. It's mostly just conflict, bickering and con games, all engineered by the so-called "leaders" of our world who continue to be the most infantile humans of all.
As Noam Chomsky famously said, "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."
I've created a short quiz about freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of thought. Take that quiz and see if you *really* believe in freedom, of if you're just deluding yourself. You'll find that quiz here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/025225.html
Check out that quiz if you want to see whether you truly believe in freedom for others.
Baseless Accusations against John Travolta Demonstrate Cruelty, Intolerance of Pill Pushers and Religion Bashers
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, January 5, 2009
Key concepts: John Travolta, Scientology and Freedom of Religion
The pill pushers of modern medicine are at it again, attacking John Travolta over the tragic death of his son, Jett, claiming (without any evidence, by the way) that Travolta was unwilling to keep his son on seizure medication and, therefore, was responsible for Jett falling and hitting his head, which led to his death.
The truth is that modern medicine's pill pushers are responsible for at least 98,000 deaths each year of American children, adults and senior citizens, and that's according to the conservative figures of the Journal of the American Medical Association. More reliable figures put the actual number of Americans killed by modern medicine (and all its pharmaceuticals) at 783,000 people a year. Yet there's no outrage about all those people who are killed by medicine. Instead, these pill pushers are focusing on the accidental death of a child belonging to a family of courageous citizens who have had the presence of mind to keep their child off psychiatric medications and focus on nutrition rather than drugs to support their child's health.
That pushers of conventional medicine would exploit this tragic death of John Travolta's son to attack both his sensibilities and his religious beliefs is yet another example of the cruelty of modern-day pill pushers. To them, the death of John Travolta's son is a "win" because in their minds, it "proves him wrong" about his belief system.
That's a delusional logic set, of course, because the nature of Jett's death (an accidental fall) has nothing whatsoever to do with Travolta's beliefs about protecting his child from psychiatric medications. At the same time, what about all those kids on SSRI drugs that end up committing suicide? The same people accusing Travolta today are never found blaming SSRI drugs for the suicidal actions of teens. To them, drugs are always good, and a lack of drugs is always bad. That's their religion in a nutshell.
Speaking of religion, I find it disgusting to watch people use this tragic death to level yet more attacks on the Church of Scientology. When Catholic priests rape their choir boys, it's all just hushed up and allowed to continue, but when a Scientologist suffers a random, tragic accidental death, they're subjected to relentless attacks that can only be called hate-motivated assaults on religious freedom.
For the record, I am not a Scientologist. I have, however, had the opportunity to personally meet many current and former members of the Church of Scientology, much like I know many members of the Mormon church, many of conservative Christian churches and of course lots of new age spiritual people who aren't associated with any organized religion at all. The one thing I've learned in all this is that those who would attack the members of another religion over their beliefs are violating their own Church, whatever Church that may be. Religious freedom, in the minds of too many people, only applies to YOUR OWN religion, not to other people's religions. And that's not religious freedom at all; that's just zealotry.
I am one of the few people you'll ever meet who truly, honestly and irrevocably believes in genuine religious freedom. What does that mean? It means that if I held a party at my house, you'd meet people there from all kinds of spiritual beliefs and backgrounds: Christians, Catholics, Scientologists, Mormons, Buddhists, Islamists, New Age Spiritualists and even some Athiests and Hinduists, too. And why is that? Because I know and respect people in each of these religious traditions, and I don't condemn people for following a religious belief system. The only "religion" I attack is what I call the "Cult of Pharmacology" which doesn't count as an organized religion in the first place.
I've noticed that there are various levels of tolerance among the population for attacking various religions. Attacking Scientology, for example, is considered "okay" by lots of people because Scientology seems strange to them. Attacking the Jewish religion, however, is considered a hate crime, even as Israelis are right now murdering innocent civilians in Gaza with a military assault that targets universities and schools. If you dare say anything against Israel, you're immediately considered a blasphemous hate crime promoter, and if you live in Germany, they can actually lock you up in prison for even questioning the official version of events like the Holocaust. Just ask David Irving, who actually spent time in prison for questioning the official explanation of the Holocaust.
By the way, I'm not a Holocaust denier, and I don't support David Irving's views. But I do support his right to EXPRESS his views without being arrested as a criminal.
Speaking of holocaust deniers, virtually all Americans are "Native American Holocaust Deniers" because the revisionist version of U.S. history taught in schools conveniently leaves out the Holocaust that was committed against the Native Americans by everybody from Christopher Columbus on down the line. So why aren't all the American people doing time in prison for denying the Holocaust committed against Native Americans? Because the White Man wrote the history books, of course!
My point in all of this is that very few people truly operate on anything even resembling truth, honesty or religious freedom. They simply attack opponents of their own limited views or beliefs, leaving no room for someone else to disagree on important issues like history or religion.
And this is ultimately why we have so much violence in our world: A culture of global intolerance dominates our world today. People cannot tolerate a competing belief system, or the questioning of "official" history, without being censored, arrested or imprisoned. Because freedom of speech is now considered a crime if it contradicts the beliefs of those in power.
These attacks on John Travolta demonstrate the amateurish, hate-filled assaults on religious freedom that permeate western culture. Most people only believe in religious freedom for their own religion. Most people only believe in freedom of speech for their own beliefs. And when it comes down to it, most people ultimately only believe that their OWN kind of people deserve to live in this world at all.
And that's one of the reasons why the human race remains such an immature, infant race that still hasn't emerged from its self-centered growth stage. Nations act like children (Israel throws a temper tantrum!), and almost no national leader is able to function like a healthy adult and focus on creating a brighter world for future generations. It's mostly just conflict, bickering and con games, all engineered by the so-called "leaders" of our world who continue to be the most infantile humans of all.
As Noam Chomsky famously said, "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."
I've created a short quiz about freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of thought. Take that quiz and see if you *really* believe in freedom, of if you're just deluding yourself. You'll find that quiz here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/025225.html
Check out that quiz if you want to see whether you truly believe in freedom for others.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Isaac Hayes' History With Scientology
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,401321,00.html
Isaac Hayes' History With Scientology
Monday , August 11, 2008
By Roger Friedman
My friend, Isaac Hayes, died on Sunday, and his passing leaves many unanswered questions.
The great R&B star, actor, DJ, performer and family man, the composer of “Soul Man,” “Hold On I’m Coming” and other hits by Sam Moore and Dave Prater like “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby,” also was a member of the Church of Scientology.
Isaac was found dead by his treadmill, but conveniently missing from the wire stories was a significant fact: in January 2006, Isaac had a significant stroke. At the time, the word went out only that he had been hospitalized for exhaustion.
But the truth was, Isaac, whom I’d seen just a couple of months earlier when he headlined the Blues Ball in Memphis, was in trouble. Having lost the rights to his songs two decades earlier, he was finally making some money voicing the character of Chef on “South Park.” But “South Park” lampooned Scientology, so the leaders wanted Isaac out.
Push came to shove on Nov. 16, 2005, when “South Park” aired its hilarious “Trapped in the Closet” episode spoofing Tom Cruise and John Travolta. “South Park” creator Matt Stone told me later that Isaac had come to him in tears.
“He said he was under great pressure from Scientology, and if we didn’t stop poking at them, he’d have to leave," Stone said.
The conversation ended there. Isaac performed Chef’s signature song at the Blues Ball a week later with great delight. Although he was devoted to Scientology, he also loved being part of “South Park.” He was proud of it. And, importantly, it gave him income he badly needed.
But then came the stroke, which was severe. His staff — consisting of Scientology monitors who rarely left him alone — tried to portray it as a minor health issue. It wasn’t. Sources in Memphis told me at the time that Isaac had significant motor control and speech issues. His talking was impaired.
In March 2006, news came that Hayes was resigning from “South Park." On March 20, 2006, I wrote a column called “Chef’s Quitting Controversy,” explaining that Hayes was in no position to have quit anything due to his stroke. But Scientology issued the statement to the press saying Hayes had resigned, and the press just ate it up. No one spoke to Isaac directly, because he couldn’t literally speak. "Chef” was written out of the show.
Isaac’s income stream was severely impaired as a result. Suddenly there were announcements of his touring, and performing. It didn’t seem possible, but word went out that he’d be at BB King’s in New York in January 2007. I went to see him and reported on it here.
The show was abomination. Isaac was plunked down at a keyboard, where he pretended to front his band. He spoke-sang, and his words were halting. He was not the Isaac Hayes of the past.
What was worse was that he barely knew me. He had appeared in my documentary, "Only the Strong Survive," released in 2003. We knew each other very well. I was actually surprised that his Scientology minder, Christina Kumi Kimball, with whom I had difficult encounters in the past, let me see him backstage at BB King’s. Our meeting was brief, and Isaac said quietly that he did know me. But the light was out in his eyes, and the situation was worrisome.
But the general consensus was that he needed the money. Without “Chef,” Isaac’s finances were severely curtailed. He had mouths to feed to home. Plus, Scientology requires huge amounts of money, as former member, actor Jason Beghe, has explained in this space. For Isaac to continue in the sect, he had to come up with funds. Performing was the only way.
In recent months, I’ve had conflicting reports. One mutual friend says that Isaac had looked and sounded much better lately at business meetings. But actor Samuel L. Jackson, who recently filmed scenes with Isaac and the late Bernie Mac for a new movie called “Soul Men,” told me on Saturday that Isaac really wasn’t up to the physical demands of shooting the movie. (Neither, it seems, was Bernie Mac.)
Sam Moore, who recorded those Isaac Hayes songs in the '60s and loved the writer-performer like a brother, told me Sunday when he heard about the death: “I’m happy.” Happy, I asked? “Yes, happy he’s out of pain.” It was one of the most beautiful ideas I’d ever heard expressed on the subject of death.
But there are a lot of questions still to be raised about Isaac Hayes’ death. Why, for example, was a stroke survivor on a treadmill by himself? What was his condition? What kind of treatment had he had since the stroke? Members of Scientology are required to sign a form promising they will never seek psychiatric or mental assistance. But stroke rehabilitation involves the help of neurologists and often psychiatrists, not to mention psychotropic drugs — exactly the kind Scientology proselytizes against.
What will come next, I’m afraid, is a wild dogfight among family members for Isaac’s estate. His song catalog (with David Porter) is one of the greatest in music history. Isaac lost the rights to his big hit songs in 1977. But thanks to something called the Songwriters Act, his heirs — whoever they are determined to be — automatically get the rights back as the songs come up for copyright renewal. I guarantee this will not be pretty. Isaac Lee Hayes has over 300 original compositions listed with BMI, from the Sam & Dave songbook to Carla Thomas’ “BABY (Baby)” to his monumental instrumental “Theme from SHAFT.”
None of this should ever take away from who Isaac Hayes really was: a great friend, a warm congenial man with a big heart and a big laugh. He had married again right before his stroke, and was very happy. If he hadn’t had the stroke, I am certain he would have recorded a new album. There was talk of it after the stroke, but nothing materialized. When we made and promoted “Only the Strong Survive,” he was a masterful musician with a great mind and a wicked sense of humor. His loss at 65 is simply way too early and very tragic.
Isaac Hayes' History With Scientology
Monday , August 11, 2008
By Roger Friedman
My friend, Isaac Hayes, died on Sunday, and his passing leaves many unanswered questions.
The great R&B star, actor, DJ, performer and family man, the composer of “Soul Man,” “Hold On I’m Coming” and other hits by Sam Moore and Dave Prater like “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby,” also was a member of the Church of Scientology.
Isaac was found dead by his treadmill, but conveniently missing from the wire stories was a significant fact: in January 2006, Isaac had a significant stroke. At the time, the word went out only that he had been hospitalized for exhaustion.
But the truth was, Isaac, whom I’d seen just a couple of months earlier when he headlined the Blues Ball in Memphis, was in trouble. Having lost the rights to his songs two decades earlier, he was finally making some money voicing the character of Chef on “South Park.” But “South Park” lampooned Scientology, so the leaders wanted Isaac out.
Push came to shove on Nov. 16, 2005, when “South Park” aired its hilarious “Trapped in the Closet” episode spoofing Tom Cruise and John Travolta. “South Park” creator Matt Stone told me later that Isaac had come to him in tears.
“He said he was under great pressure from Scientology, and if we didn’t stop poking at them, he’d have to leave," Stone said.
The conversation ended there. Isaac performed Chef’s signature song at the Blues Ball a week later with great delight. Although he was devoted to Scientology, he also loved being part of “South Park.” He was proud of it. And, importantly, it gave him income he badly needed.
But then came the stroke, which was severe. His staff — consisting of Scientology monitors who rarely left him alone — tried to portray it as a minor health issue. It wasn’t. Sources in Memphis told me at the time that Isaac had significant motor control and speech issues. His talking was impaired.
In March 2006, news came that Hayes was resigning from “South Park." On March 20, 2006, I wrote a column called “Chef’s Quitting Controversy,” explaining that Hayes was in no position to have quit anything due to his stroke. But Scientology issued the statement to the press saying Hayes had resigned, and the press just ate it up. No one spoke to Isaac directly, because he couldn’t literally speak. "Chef” was written out of the show.
Isaac’s income stream was severely impaired as a result. Suddenly there were announcements of his touring, and performing. It didn’t seem possible, but word went out that he’d be at BB King’s in New York in January 2007. I went to see him and reported on it here.
The show was abomination. Isaac was plunked down at a keyboard, where he pretended to front his band. He spoke-sang, and his words were halting. He was not the Isaac Hayes of the past.
What was worse was that he barely knew me. He had appeared in my documentary, "Only the Strong Survive," released in 2003. We knew each other very well. I was actually surprised that his Scientology minder, Christina Kumi Kimball, with whom I had difficult encounters in the past, let me see him backstage at BB King’s. Our meeting was brief, and Isaac said quietly that he did know me. But the light was out in his eyes, and the situation was worrisome.
But the general consensus was that he needed the money. Without “Chef,” Isaac’s finances were severely curtailed. He had mouths to feed to home. Plus, Scientology requires huge amounts of money, as former member, actor Jason Beghe, has explained in this space. For Isaac to continue in the sect, he had to come up with funds. Performing was the only way.
In recent months, I’ve had conflicting reports. One mutual friend says that Isaac had looked and sounded much better lately at business meetings. But actor Samuel L. Jackson, who recently filmed scenes with Isaac and the late Bernie Mac for a new movie called “Soul Men,” told me on Saturday that Isaac really wasn’t up to the physical demands of shooting the movie. (Neither, it seems, was Bernie Mac.)
Sam Moore, who recorded those Isaac Hayes songs in the '60s and loved the writer-performer like a brother, told me Sunday when he heard about the death: “I’m happy.” Happy, I asked? “Yes, happy he’s out of pain.” It was one of the most beautiful ideas I’d ever heard expressed on the subject of death.
But there are a lot of questions still to be raised about Isaac Hayes’ death. Why, for example, was a stroke survivor on a treadmill by himself? What was his condition? What kind of treatment had he had since the stroke? Members of Scientology are required to sign a form promising they will never seek psychiatric or mental assistance. But stroke rehabilitation involves the help of neurologists and often psychiatrists, not to mention psychotropic drugs — exactly the kind Scientology proselytizes against.
What will come next, I’m afraid, is a wild dogfight among family members for Isaac’s estate. His song catalog (with David Porter) is one of the greatest in music history. Isaac lost the rights to his big hit songs in 1977. But thanks to something called the Songwriters Act, his heirs — whoever they are determined to be — automatically get the rights back as the songs come up for copyright renewal. I guarantee this will not be pretty. Isaac Lee Hayes has over 300 original compositions listed with BMI, from the Sam & Dave songbook to Carla Thomas’ “BABY (Baby)” to his monumental instrumental “Theme from SHAFT.”
None of this should ever take away from who Isaac Hayes really was: a great friend, a warm congenial man with a big heart and a big laugh. He had married again right before his stroke, and was very happy. If he hadn’t had the stroke, I am certain he would have recorded a new album. There was talk of it after the stroke, but nothing materialized. When we made and promoted “Only the Strong Survive,” he was a masterful musician with a great mind and a wicked sense of humor. His loss at 65 is simply way too early and very tragic.
Monday, July 16, 2007
John Travolta becomes the perfect woman
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml;jsessionid=XTZTTLZ5YYNP5QFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/arts/2007/07/13/nosplit/bftravolta11.xml
John Travolta becomes the perfect woman
13/07/2007
When John Travolta finally agreed to star in his first musical since 'Grease', he had some very firm ideas about just how voluptuous his character should be, he tells John Hiscock
When you've been a sexy teen idol, a tough action star, danced with Diana, Princess of Wales and been nominated for two Oscars, you think long and hard when someone asks you to put on a dress and portray an outsized, overly protective mother.
John Travolta thought for 14 months before saying "Yes."
The decision was a good one, because he makes a sweet, lovable Edna Turnblad, who sings, dances and is madly in love with her husband, played by Travolta's old pal and fellow former Broadway hoofer Christopher Walken, in the third incarnation of John Waters's musical, Hairspray.
The story, as most people know by now, is set in Baltimore during the 1960s TV dance craze and centres on Edna and Wilbur Turnblad and their daughter Tracy (played by screen newcomer Nikki Blonsky), who graduates from outsider to celebrity trendsetter while kicking down racial barriers on local television.
Edna was portrayed in the original 1988 movie by the transvestite Divine and in the subsequent Broadway show by Harvey Feirstein.
But in this version, which the film's producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron describe as a "re-invention" based on the stage musical, the first choice for the role was always Travolta. They had originally chosen him for the Billy Flynn role in Chicago, but it went to Richard Gere after Travolta turned it down.
"When they asked me to be Edna Turnblad I said, 'Gee, 32 years as a leading man… why me? What makes you think I'd be the perfect woman?'
"It took me a year and two months to decide to do it. It was a long and arduous decision."
He was finally convinced by director-choreographer Adam Shankman's vision and passion.
"He basically said to me, 'I take this movie personally and if it doesn't come out right, I'm going to die.' And I said, 'Whoa, I've got to go with that guy,' because musicals don't work unless every throttle's on full, so when I got the sense everybody cared, then I said, OK.
"I had the biggest musical in history, Grease, and I wanted to leave it like that, so excuse the pun but it took a lot of grease to get me back in the frying pan."
He was so determined to create the Edna he wanted that he rejected several versions of the fat suit designed for him until he was given one he considered made her suitably curvaceous and voluptuous.
"It wasn't real to me to make her like a refrigerator," he says. "I said, 'Make her as big as you want as long as you give her a waist and make her pretty because it will be more interesting, more appealing and more entertaining.' I wanted people to enjoy looking at her, because if she's grotesque, it's not fun.
"My challenge was making sure I was convincing as a woman, so I drew on a library of memories of watching great female performances in the theatre and on film and in my family, and I used role models like Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg, Elizabeth Taylor… these women with voluptuous shapes."
He had to spend up to five hours a day encased in a full body suit weighing more than 30lb with five separate gel-filled silicone prosthetic appliances for parts of Edna's face. But it had its compensations.
"I'm happy to be a man, but I miss being groped," he says, laughing. "Everybody tried to grope me all day. Suddenly having breasts and a big bottom gained me so much attention. Men and women wanted to feel my breasts and feel my bum. I must be a slut because I didn't care. Men were flirting with me and I was being given power I never had before. I found it fascinating. Women have power I didn't know they had."
Hairspray is a testament not only to 53-year-old John Travolta's versatility, but to his ability to defy the rules of Hollywood and continue to thrive.
In a business where the adage "they never come back" is especially true, he returned to Hollywood's A-list after languishing in semi-obscurity for a decade and is now as much in demand as he was when his portrayal of the posturing Italian-American Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever, one of the signature films of the 1970s, earned him an Oscar nomination and international stardom.
Maybe it is due to his well-reported affiliation to the Church of Scientology, but he gives off the aura of almost unnatural calmness. He is remarkably easy to talk to and has an unexpected quality of being able to laugh at himself.
He and his actress wife Kelly Preston avoid the Hollywood social scene, preferring to remain at home some 100 miles up the coast, with their two children, Jett, 15, and seven-year-old Ella Bleu, who is already a budding actress.
An avid flier since he was 16 years old, Travolta also owns a fly-in/fly-out house in Florida, where he lands his Gulfstream 11 and customised 707 jets on a private runway, taxiing right up to the house.
Although he is all movie star nowadays, Travolta is a man who has paid his showbusiness dues. When he was six years old, he took dancing lessons from Gene Kelly's brother; he made his stage debut when he was 12 in Who Will Save the Plowboy?, dropped out of high school when he was 16 to begin work in summer stock and made his Broadway debut in 1974 in Over Here! with the Andrews Sisters.
But after achieving worldwide fame with Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978), he became trapped for nearly 10 years in a series of forgettable flops. He was in danger of becoming one of Hollywood's forgotten men until, in 1985, at a party at the White House, Diana, Princess of Wales asked him to dance and he was once more making headlines around the world.
"That was an amazing moment for her and for me because at that time I was having a dip in my career and no one was very interested in me," he says. "But with Princess Diana I was suddenly the only thing that mattered in America to her and I was reborn. I was like, 'Wow! I matter to someone again.' "
Then Quentin Tarantino and Pulp Fiction (1994) restored his acting credibility and won him his second Oscar nomination. Since then, he has thrived in films such as Get Shorty (1995), Broken Arrow (1996), Michael (1996), Face/Off (1997), Primary Colors (1998) and Swordfish (2001), while emerging unscathed from such critically assailed flops as Battlefield Earth (2000).
His most recent film, Wild Hogs (2007), was a huge financial success, and he is due to start work soon on the Walt Disney film Old Dogs, which co-stars his wife and daughter. He is also awaiting a final script for Dallas, the movie version of the 1970s television series in which he is due to play JR.
"As you get older you have to force yourself to have new dreams," he says. "For instance, I've been flying for 37 years but now teaching others to fly is interesting for me. Sometimes you have to find new angles on life to keep you interested, like sharing successes and inspiring and helping others. You have to go out of your way to activate your dreams and keep them going in this third chapter of your life."
'Hairspray' is released on Friday July 20
CROSS-DRESSING AT THE MOVIES
Some Like It Hot (1959)
"Have I got things to tell you!" says Jerry (Jack Lemmon) to Joe (Tony Curtis). "What happened?" "I'm engaged!" "Congratulations! Who's the lucky girl?" "I am!"
The absolute mother of cross-dressing comedies, Billy Wilder's movie remains a thing of beauty - not, perhaps, something that could be said of the suspiciously big-boned Daphne and Josephine.
Mrs Doubtfire (1993)
Robin Williams is like a kiddy in a sweetshop as the husband who, after an acrimonious divorce, decides to pretened to be Euphegenia Doubtfire, nanny extraordinary, in order to spend more time with his children.
It all requires mammoth suspension of disbelief, but there's a nicely waspish edge to the script and much of it is far funnier than it has any right to be.
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Alec Guinness plays pursed-lipped Suffragette Lady Agatha, the fourth of eight members of the D'Ascoyne family (all played by Guinness) murdered by Dennis Price in pursuit of the dukedom he believes should be his.
"I shot an arrow in the air/She fell to earth in Berkeley Square," he says gaily after downing her hot-air balloon.
Tootsie (1982)
Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of a struggling young actor who turns himself into a middle-aged woman to get a part - and thereby gains an unwelcome insight into life on the other side of the sexual divide - won him an Oscar nomination. His biggest problem with the role? Getting the voice right, he said.
The Crying Game (1992)
If you've never seen this film, stop reading now, because the revelation that the sexy, sultry Dil (Jaye Davidson) is actually a boy is the plot's big twist, helping to make this one of Neil Jordan's biggest hits. Much confusion among male viewers who found themselves fancying her/him.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Travolta echoes Cruise on psychiatry
http://omg.yahoo.com/travolta-echoes-cruise-on-psychiatry/news/526
Travolta echoes Cruise on psychiatry
June 19, 2007
Associated Press
NEW YORK - John Travolta says his thinking is in line with fellow Scientologist Tom Cruise, who has publicly defended the religion's stance against psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.
Cruise, during a famously heated debate on NBC's "Today" show in 2005, criticized Brooke Shields for taking anti-depression drugs and berated host Matt Lauer for suggesting that psychiatric treatment might help some patients.
"I don't disagree with anything Tom says," Travolta says in the July issue of W magazine, on newsstands Friday. "How would I have presented it? Maybe differently than how he did, but it doesn't matter. I still think that if you analyze most of the school shootings, it is not gun control. It is (psychotropic) drugs at the bottom of it."
"I don't want to create controversy; I just have an opinion on things, and there is nothing wrong with stating your opinion if you are asked," he continues. "Everyone wants that right, and because you are famous doesn't mean you have less of a right."
Travolta, who also talks of his habit of going to bed at 6 or 7 in the morning and waking in the early afternoon, says being famous has little impact on how he lives his life.
"I will tell you the things that would be the same, fame or no fame," he says. "Being up all night would be the same. Liking empty restaurants, liking empty movie theaters Ã? unless I am starring in it."
Travolta, 53, portrays Ms. Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray," the adaptation of the stage musical that was spun from the 1988 John Waters film of the same name. The new film opens July 20. The role, in which he dons a fat suit and feminine garb, has added fuel to ongoing speculation about his sexuality.
"I have never been compelled to share with you my bathroom habits or share with you my bedroom habits," says the married father of two. "Everyone has a right to privacy, so I have never felt - even though I am famous - that I had to share that with anybody."
Do the rumors bother him? Does he think they've affected his career?
"No and no," he says. "What affects your career is the quality of the product. I don't think anyone can hurt me."
"Hairspray," a New Line release, also stars Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah.
___
New Line is a division of Time Warner Inc.
___
On the Net:
W magazine: http://www.style.com/w
http://www.hairspraymovie.com/
Travolta echoes Cruise on psychiatry
June 19, 2007
Associated Press
NEW YORK - John Travolta says his thinking is in line with fellow Scientologist Tom Cruise, who has publicly defended the religion's stance against psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.
Cruise, during a famously heated debate on NBC's "Today" show in 2005, criticized Brooke Shields for taking anti-depression drugs and berated host Matt Lauer for suggesting that psychiatric treatment might help some patients.
"I don't disagree with anything Tom says," Travolta says in the July issue of W magazine, on newsstands Friday. "How would I have presented it? Maybe differently than how he did, but it doesn't matter. I still think that if you analyze most of the school shootings, it is not gun control. It is (psychotropic) drugs at the bottom of it."
"I don't want to create controversy; I just have an opinion on things, and there is nothing wrong with stating your opinion if you are asked," he continues. "Everyone wants that right, and because you are famous doesn't mean you have less of a right."
Travolta, who also talks of his habit of going to bed at 6 or 7 in the morning and waking in the early afternoon, says being famous has little impact on how he lives his life.
"I will tell you the things that would be the same, fame or no fame," he says. "Being up all night would be the same. Liking empty restaurants, liking empty movie theaters Ã? unless I am starring in it."
Travolta, 53, portrays Ms. Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray," the adaptation of the stage musical that was spun from the 1988 John Waters film of the same name. The new film opens July 20. The role, in which he dons a fat suit and feminine garb, has added fuel to ongoing speculation about his sexuality.
"I have never been compelled to share with you my bathroom habits or share with you my bedroom habits," says the married father of two. "Everyone has a right to privacy, so I have never felt - even though I am famous - that I had to share that with anybody."
Do the rumors bother him? Does he think they've affected his career?
"No and no," he says. "What affects your career is the quality of the product. I don't think anyone can hurt me."
"Hairspray," a New Line release, also stars Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah.
___
New Line is a division of Time Warner Inc.
___
On the Net:
W magazine: http://www.style.com/w
http://www.hairspraymovie.com/
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Travolta Is 'Divine' in 'Hairspray' Film
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,277008,00.html
Travolta Is 'Divine' in 'Hairspray' Film
Friday , June 01, 2007
By Roger Friedman
And now, “Hairspray,” the John Waters musical film based on the Broadway musical that was based on the original 1988 John Waters non-musical film that launched Rikki Lake.
It’s brought to us by the producers of the movie musical version of “Chicago” and directed by Adam Shankman, a choreographer with some pretty awful movies on his resume.
Into this mix comes John Travolta, looking a little like Barney the dinosaur (except not purple) as Edna Turnblad, previously played on Broadway by Harvey Fierstein and in the movie by Divine, Waters’ late transvestite of choice. Who can forget Divine in “Pink Flamingos”? Did we ever think that Vinnie Barbarino would play his/her part?
And yet, you really have to see Travolta to believe him, especially toward the end of “Hairspray” when he finally lets loose — dressed in a fat suit as a woman in a red tutu and high heels — and dances up a storm in the film’s finale. He’s remarkable.
I don’t know if it’s an Oscar performance, but I do know that when “Hairspray” is shown in big theaters (I saw it in a screening room, still a little unfinished), audiences are going to go wild with cheers and whistles.
Travolta even signals the audience with his now-trademark "cat eye” from “Pulp Fiction” as he launches like a spinning top onto the stage of the fictional Corny Collins Show. You can only love it. Somehow he brings that old Travolta warmth and charisma to a crazy costume (what a change from his last strange outfit, in “Battlefield Earth”).
“Hairspray,” if you don’t know, has a very simply plot. Circa 1959, 17-year-old Tracy Turnblad of Baltimore — wide as she is tall with a huge beehive hairdo — only wants to dance on the local “Corny Collins Show.” It’s like Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand.”
Tracy is played by newcomer Nikki Blonsky with such infectious ebullience, a whole new cult may quickly grow up around her.
Corny Collins, though, is the revelation: James Marsden, known previously from a series of cardboard performances in “Superman” and “X-Men,” turns out to be a terrific song and dance man. He’s an absolute knockout. I wouldn’t be surprised if Broadway producers start contacting him to play leads in shows.
Anyway, Tracy’s parents are played by Travolta and Christopher Walken, who almost steals the movie as the proprietor of a joke shop. Her best friend is Amanda Bynes, and Bynes’ mom is “West Wing” star Alison Janney returning to her comedy roots.
There isn’t a lot more to “Hairspray” except for the subplot. Not only does Tracy want to dance on the "Corny Collins Show," she wants to integrate it. The show occasionally features “Negro Day,” hosted by Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) and showcasing R&B then known as “race music.”
It’s Tracy’s one desire “to make every day Negro Day” and bring the black kids who dance on the satellite show onto the main stage. One of the funnier bits is a running joke where all the really cool kids (read: black) get detention on purpose. The detention room is really a juke joint, where there’s great music and cool dancing. It’s very funny.
Right now, New Line Cinema is downplaying “Hairspray,” hoping to avoid the hype machine that nearly killed “Dreamgirls” last year. This may work. Enough fans of the Broadway show will want to see this movie. As word spreads, others will come, too.
“Hairspray” is like a big colorful carnival, with loads of cotton candy. It’s never anything but happy, even when it’s trying to be profound.
More importantly, the performances are so well-defined that each one of them is going to be noticed. My favorite was Queen Latifah, whose voice is so amazing, and performance so mesmerizing, I wouldn’t be surprised if she wound up with a lot of awards and nominations. Once again, as with “Chicago,” she is the breakout star of the movie.
Travolta, Blonsky, Walken and Michelle Pfeiffer as the uptight producer of “Corny Collins” are all excellent. Teenagers, I’m told, will flock in to see Zac Effron of “High School Musical” as the heartthrob of Corny’s show. And Jerry Stiller reprises his role as Mr. Pinky from the original movie.
“Hairspray” opens on July 20, on an open weekend with competition only from Adam Sandler and TV’s Kevin James in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.” It’s a tricky weekend, since NFL pre-season is still three weeks away. Guys, John Travolta in a dress awaits you like it or not.
Travolta Is 'Divine' in 'Hairspray' Film
Friday , June 01, 2007
By Roger Friedman
And now, “Hairspray,” the John Waters musical film based on the Broadway musical that was based on the original 1988 John Waters non-musical film that launched Rikki Lake.
It’s brought to us by the producers of the movie musical version of “Chicago” and directed by Adam Shankman, a choreographer with some pretty awful movies on his resume.
Into this mix comes John Travolta, looking a little like Barney the dinosaur (except not purple) as Edna Turnblad, previously played on Broadway by Harvey Fierstein and in the movie by Divine, Waters’ late transvestite of choice. Who can forget Divine in “Pink Flamingos”? Did we ever think that Vinnie Barbarino would play his/her part?
And yet, you really have to see Travolta to believe him, especially toward the end of “Hairspray” when he finally lets loose — dressed in a fat suit as a woman in a red tutu and high heels — and dances up a storm in the film’s finale. He’s remarkable.
I don’t know if it’s an Oscar performance, but I do know that when “Hairspray” is shown in big theaters (I saw it in a screening room, still a little unfinished), audiences are going to go wild with cheers and whistles.
Travolta even signals the audience with his now-trademark "cat eye” from “Pulp Fiction” as he launches like a spinning top onto the stage of the fictional Corny Collins Show. You can only love it. Somehow he brings that old Travolta warmth and charisma to a crazy costume (what a change from his last strange outfit, in “Battlefield Earth”).
“Hairspray,” if you don’t know, has a very simply plot. Circa 1959, 17-year-old Tracy Turnblad of Baltimore — wide as she is tall with a huge beehive hairdo — only wants to dance on the local “Corny Collins Show.” It’s like Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand.”
Tracy is played by newcomer Nikki Blonsky with such infectious ebullience, a whole new cult may quickly grow up around her.
Corny Collins, though, is the revelation: James Marsden, known previously from a series of cardboard performances in “Superman” and “X-Men,” turns out to be a terrific song and dance man. He’s an absolute knockout. I wouldn’t be surprised if Broadway producers start contacting him to play leads in shows.
Anyway, Tracy’s parents are played by Travolta and Christopher Walken, who almost steals the movie as the proprietor of a joke shop. Her best friend is Amanda Bynes, and Bynes’ mom is “West Wing” star Alison Janney returning to her comedy roots.
There isn’t a lot more to “Hairspray” except for the subplot. Not only does Tracy want to dance on the "Corny Collins Show," she wants to integrate it. The show occasionally features “Negro Day,” hosted by Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) and showcasing R&B then known as “race music.”
It’s Tracy’s one desire “to make every day Negro Day” and bring the black kids who dance on the satellite show onto the main stage. One of the funnier bits is a running joke where all the really cool kids (read: black) get detention on purpose. The detention room is really a juke joint, where there’s great music and cool dancing. It’s very funny.
Right now, New Line Cinema is downplaying “Hairspray,” hoping to avoid the hype machine that nearly killed “Dreamgirls” last year. This may work. Enough fans of the Broadway show will want to see this movie. As word spreads, others will come, too.
“Hairspray” is like a big colorful carnival, with loads of cotton candy. It’s never anything but happy, even when it’s trying to be profound.
More importantly, the performances are so well-defined that each one of them is going to be noticed. My favorite was Queen Latifah, whose voice is so amazing, and performance so mesmerizing, I wouldn’t be surprised if she wound up with a lot of awards and nominations. Once again, as with “Chicago,” she is the breakout star of the movie.
Travolta, Blonsky, Walken and Michelle Pfeiffer as the uptight producer of “Corny Collins” are all excellent. Teenagers, I’m told, will flock in to see Zac Effron of “High School Musical” as the heartthrob of Corny’s show. And Jerry Stiller reprises his role as Mr. Pinky from the original movie.
“Hairspray” opens on July 20, on an open weekend with competition only from Adam Sandler and TV’s Kevin James in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.” It’s a tricky weekend, since NFL pre-season is still three weeks away. Guys, John Travolta in a dress awaits you like it or not.
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