Do movie stars come any cooler than John Travolta and Uma Thurman? Hardly.
And that’s why they the Pulp Fiction co-stars reunited to headline Be Cool, the ultra-hip sequel to Travolta‘s 1995 cool-fest Get Shorty, which takes mob-shylock-turned-movie-producer Chili Palmer (Travolta) into the world of the music biz, where he helps widow Edie Athens (Thurman) reignite her record label amid a talent war over an aspiring pop singer. Once again, the stars–who share yet another hypnotic dance sequence on screen–make beautiful music together.
On why Chili Palmer may just be the coolest character contemporary film:
John Travolta: “He’s a cinematic character that is willing to be fearless, literally. I certainly like him and I love watching him, but he’s purely cinematic like James Bond, like Sean Connery as James Bond, who I love…He’s the American version of James Bond. Chili being cool is that he’s fearless and smart enough to handle any given situation, and he’s perceptive enough to handle more sensitive situations. He’s cool because he’s got it made, but of course this is structured. We put him in these situations where he can be the ultimate non-responder or the ultimate clever-mover. Dustin Hoffman and Sean Connery are completely fascinated with this character. Dustin asked in particular, ‘What’s the secret? What are you doing?’ And my answer was ‘Don’t forget Chili loves movies and he loves that kind of figure in movies. He’s a complete romantic, so even though he’s a tough, hit-man kind of guy, he’s still fascinated by the arts.’ You have a guy who has illusions of what Cary Grant or James Bond might do in a situation. So you have the ultimate cinematic character within a cinematic concept.”
Uma Thuman: “I really like his character because he is incredibly defined and makes acting a little easier. He is a sort of potent character and gives you a lot to start with it. He’s the contemporary Damon Runyan-esque kind of person, who is a well-defined and full-bodied character.
On that sexy, sultry dance sequence, their first together since Pulp Fiction:
Travolta: “Actually, it was my idea to dance in that film because I wanted to dance in the first film, Get Shorty but Barry didn’t want to do that. I decided to dance only with the caveat of would it be the correct dance for the character and for me the correct dance was something cool, low key–a song with a bossa nova, cha-cha sound. Something cool and low-key, like James Bond, if they would agree to that–which they wouldn’t at first. Then they found a song that the Black Eyed Peas wrote with Sergio Mendes, then suddenly my idea was very good. I trust classic stuff, and when the Black Eyed Peas did this they turned it all around, and everyone thought I was genius for thinking of this. We got a choreographer, and I just trust Uma and I to dance in character. If you look at Pulp Fiction we were dancing higher than a kite and were people who were hoping for death. And in this movie we’re dancing for life.”
Thurman: “I dance every day now, and it’s so overjoying. It’s great to get back together and dance again.”
On the allure of teaming up to bring Chili Palmer back after ten years since the original:
Travolta: “The reason it took so long because Elmore Leonard was quite inspired by the [first] movie. Because of the movie, he decided to do a sequel book, Be Cool, which took several years to do, and when that was done then the bright idea to do this movie happened. It was really Elmore’s timing. I wouldn’t ever want to do a sequel arbitrarily, you have to have a good reason and Elmore was it. He’s a smart and clever writer.”
Thurman: I couldn’t possibly pass up the thrill, challenge, and the joy of working with John Travolta. I remember watching him when I was seven or six, and Grease came out, and I had that experience where I fell in love with John Travolta and his dance and music. Growing up primarily in Massachusetts I grew up on musical theatre. He was my introduction to that as well, which has become one of my biggest passions.”
Travolta, on taking down The Rock not once, but twice in the film:
Travolta: “Chili immediately perceives Elliot, the guy that The Rock, plays is going to be easy to deal with. But he knows that Raji [Vince Vaughn] is going to be a little more difficult, so it’s almost a show for Raji than it is to put The Rock‘s character into his place. It’ll put both of them in their place, but The Rock has to suffer the consequences for the show…The thing I love about Chili’s character is that he knows it would be easier to hit Elliot in the head with a bat or knock him down with the throat then to insult his [acting audition] scene. It’s a bigger cut to criticize him than to physically hurt him, and Chili knows that and is one of my favorite things. Physical pain is nothing for these guys but mental is. I like that a lot.”
Thurman, on picking out some of Edie’s funky T-shirts, with messages like “Mourning” and “Widow,” and if she has anything akin to Edie’s sexy Aerosmith tattoo:
Thurman: “It’s a big part of character for me. Usually, it depends on what kind of costume director you have, but it’s mostly about the character you’re working with…I don’t know what I didn’t contribute to her. She has very normal shoes that I would wear everyday…[And] I don’t have any tattoos.”
Travolta, who recorded pop songs early in his career, on comparing his own music industry experience to what Chili encounters:
Travolta: “Even though this is slightly exaggerated, adding hip-hop overtones to it, it was some degree like that. You go to meetings with guys with sunglasses on, and you didn’t know where there eyes were looking and what deals were being made behind your back. And that was pretty interesting stuff in those days and I’m sure it still is, although the industry is a little different today, but overall the same. It’s a cutthroat business–seemingly more than the movie industry. The good news about that is that it allowed me to do something like “Grease,” which I wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t done that song. They realized I could sing too.”
Thurman, on balancing the demands of career and motherhood:
Thurman: “It’s really impossible, really, really hard. My ex-husband said the other day that I clearly wanted to be a full-time mother and an actress, so I have to deal with it. I really try to give all of myself and there are things where I got really lucky–not all actors are lucky. I’ve thought about quitting, but I can’t because I love what I do so much, and I’m a mother and I can’t quit that. I’m very tumultuous and I will never give up. I just need to find a satisfactory state between work and my family…I just worked with Meryl Streep and she seems to have a very successful home life. It’s hard to say–everybody’s children are different and have different needs. Having a broken home also presents different challenges and makes things harder. It’s a big conundrum in my life and I hope I’m not failing as a parent or professional woman.”
Travolta, on the possibility of bringing Chili back for a third go-round, and the other character he’s ready to play again:
Travolta: “If Leonard did it, I would consider it. [And] I always thought The General’s Daughter character would be good to revisit, because it was a big movie and a good character.”
