Embattled Travolta to face press
John Travolta will soon be back on the big screen, but weeks of negative headlines have focused on his personal life and not on the return of one of Hollywood’s top stars.
Travolta plays a corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent in 'Savages', an Oliver Stone film about a war between marijuana growers and a Mexican drug cartel.
It is the charismatic bad guy role that has kept Travolta popular in his later career, although he is not considered one of the film’s lead actors.
This weekend, the two-time Oscar nominee is expected to face the media for the first time since the headlines broke as he begins doing publicity for the movie with selected TV outlets.
A source familiar with the production of 'Savages' said that Travolta’s recent PR difficulties have not altered his publicity schedule or marketing of the film.
The source said Travolta was doing the same amount of interviews as the film’s other stars, which include Benicio del Toro and Salma Hayek.
Travolta’s first film since 2010 comes less than two months after the actor was accused in a lawsuit of groping two masseurs.
The case quickly unravelled after Travolta’s lawyer discredited one of the anonymous accusers by showing the actor was across the country on the day of one of the alleged incidents.
Yet the suit was widely reported by both mainstream and tabloid media and subsequent stories have focused on Travolta’s sexuality. The actor has not directly addressed the claims, but his representatives have steadfastly denied them.
