Recently, Street sat down with John Travolta to talk about his career, his new film Basic and his views on the world. No, Look Who's Talking 2003 isn't coming out anytime soon. Any word on the rumored sequel to Grease? The thing is, I have never really had an objection to the idea, but they'd have to come up with a pretty good gimmick to make that work, you know? I'm willing to listen to any idea but I just don't know, it's been years since they've been talking about that, but recently, with the release of the DVD, they've been talking about that a little more, so I don't really know yet. What about a reunion with Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino? Yes. Of course, you can't predict that because Quentin beats to his own drum. He has it in his mind what could be... I know he wants to work through all his Pulp actors, like he's done Sam already, and he's doing Uma now with Kill Bill, so I'm kind of next up... He may have done Bruce I'm not sure. You have a lot of cool lines in your film career, is there any one that sticks out to you? Oh God, there have been so many... Almost iconic, like "Look at me?" from Get Shorty, I like the one in this one, "I'm still a little drunk from this morning so if you excuse me I'll skip the witty banter and get straight to hitting on you, I hope you don't mind." Yeah, every movie had like cool dialogue, I mean look at Pulp Fiction, you could quote every other line, and it's a cool piece of dialogue, you know. All the stuff with Uma I really liked too. You play a suave man in the film. Would you use any of his lines on your wife? I don't know if they'd work on my... Actually no... Whenever I do some, like I'll do a little bit of Urban Cowboy or something, then she gets kind of giddy... I mean I can do that, it does kind of work, or I'll get into my uniform or something. The media portrays you as a very sensitive and humble man, but ever since Tony Manero up through Chili, Vincent Vega and now Hardy in Basic you've played sort of the All-American badass. Does this have something to do with the John Travolta alter ego? I've created a monsta but nobody wansta see John Travolta no more, only his charact'as, I'm just chopped liva... I don't know, it could be an alter ego, I just think that the fun of acting is that you get to do whatever you want, that doesn't necessarily have to reflect your own personality. You don't even have to like a character to portray him, I just have to want to watch him, that's the key. Even in acting schools they'll tell you, you have to like your characters, you have to find something you love about them. They just have to be watchable and entertaining. You don't have to like them, you know what I mean? Because you're sitting there, in the darkened theater with a frame and you're 25 feet, you know, big and it's like... I just have to want to watch you. What was it like training with the Rangers? It was interesting, because they know they're the best, and they're all built, and I thought, "Oh God, I gotta get in shape," so I just thought... they were interesting, they were very proficient at what they did, I did the grenades and the bunker thing and crawling on the ground... But the next day, the crowd I was with went to the Middle East, so that messed with my mind a little bit, because I was just pretending, and they actually go. So I didn't like that feeling. That was weird to me to do. Are there any actors or directors that you want to work with? I'd like to work with Meryl Streep, I'd like to work with Scorsese, Spielberg. I've had my share of the major directors but those are two that I haven't. Tom Hanks is a good friend of mine, I'd like to work with Tom one day, that's the immediate list. I've always liked Joaquin Phoenix and I'm doing a movie with him next, Ladder 49. It's a fireman movie, he plays my prot‚g‚e and I'm his mentor, the chief of a firehouse and he reflects on his life as he's trapped in a fire and his whole life flashes before him. He's really got the main part in this movie, I'm kind of like Tom Hanks in Catch Me if You Can, the same ratio. It's really a heartfelt movie about firemen; they have lives, and they do sacrifice...They're not just these iconic robots that run into fires and it doesn't matter. It's a beautiful movie about that mentality, so I'm very pleased with the script. And I like Joaquin. Did September 11 have any influence on your decision to do that movie? Yes, it did actually because there was hardcore evidence of these guys knowing that they were going to lose their lives, I cry just thinking about it... If you became them for just a second. Knowing this is it, but they have to, it's their duty. It's wild. The cast of Basic is flooded with young talent, what influence do you think you might have had on them, and how was it working with this younger generation? I was very touched because all these kids kind of sacrificed just to be with Sam and I. They really did the movie for nothing, and they spent five months of their lives to just be with us. I mean they obviously liked the script, but I think a lot of it had to do with the appeal of being with Sam and I. I think they are fantastic talents, I love Giovanni's work, and Brian Van Holt's work and Taye's, and Connie is stunning in this, I think she really nailed it. That was almost like an ego boost to me to have all those young people want to be part of something that I was in. It said a lot to me about what I meant to their generation of actors. I was more touched by that than anything. Kind of embarrassed by it, too.

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