John Travolta spends his Christmas holiday skiing with daughter Ella Bleu, 23, and son Benjamin, 13
John Travolta had a white Christmas this year, taking his daughter Ella Bleu, 23, and son Benjamin, 13, on a skiing holiday
The 69-year-old actor took to Instagram on Christmas Day and shared a photo of the happy family together on the slopes.
'Merry Christmas to everyone, we love you!!' Travolta said in the caption, while Ella Bleu shared the same photo on her IG, captioning it, “Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from our family to yours.”
The holiday trip came just one month after the Pulp Fiction star celebrated his son Benjamin's 13th birthday.
It also came after the actor recounted a near-death experience in 1992, which inspired him to star in the Disney Plus film The Shepherd.
John Travolta had a white Christmas this year, taking his daughter Ella Bleu, 23, and son Benjamin, 13, on a skiing holiday
The holiday trip came just one month after the Pulp Fiction star celebrated his son Benjamin's 13th birthday
An experienced pilot, Travolta first earned his pilot's license in 1976, although he recalled thinking he would not survive during a 1992 flight when the plane suffered a complete electrical failure.
His experience mirrored that of young pilot Freddie Hooke (Ben Radcliffe), a young Royal Air Force pilot flying home over the North Sea at Christmas.
Suddenly, his Havilland Vampire jet suffers a total electrical failure, when he encounters a mysterious pilot (Travolta) who whisks him to safety.
Travolta revealed that he wanted to take on this role because he could absolutely identify with the experience recounted in Frederick Forsyth's 1975 novella on which the film is based.
'I actually experienced a total electrical failure, not in a vampire but in a corporate jet over Washington DC. So when I read [Forsyth’s] book, it resonated even more because of this experience I had personally had,” he said.
“I knew what it felt like to absolutely think you were going to die. I had two good jet engines, but I had no instruments, no electricity, nothing. And I thought it was over,” he said.
The incident occurred on Thanksgiving Day in 1992, when Travolta was piloting a Gulfstream II from Florida to Maine for the holiday.
'And then, as if by some miracle, we descended according to the rules to a lower altitude. I saw that Washington DC monument and noticed that Washington National Airport was right next to it and I made a landing [Freddie] does in the movie,” Travolta said.
An experienced pilot, Travolta first earned his pilot's license in 1976, although he recalled thinking he would not survive during a 1992 flight when the plane suffered a complete electrical failure.
Shortly after the near-death experience, Travolta came across Forsyth's book, adding that he “instantly fell in love” with the story.
Shortly after the near-death experience, Travolta came across Forsyth's book, adding that he “instantly fell in love” with the story.
'So I read this book and say, 'I lived with this.' And of course I was young enough at the time that I could have played this role [of Freddie]. But I had to wait 30 years before I could play the Shepherd,” he said.
He added that after his career took off again after Pulp Fiction, he was “making one movie after another” and then didn't have time for this project.
“After ten years I just let it go and decided I was never really going to do it,” he said, although it was director Iain Softley who connected with Travolta and got him back on board.
The 38-minute film was originally intended as a feature-length film, although COVID further delayed development before it was made into a short film.