Always the leading man, John Travolta takes charge in Ladder 49, fronting – and inspiring – a company of firefighters, including Joaquin Phoenix. "They're so modest," Travolta, 50, says of his character's real-life counterparts. The actor, who trained alongside firehouse rookies, recently talked about battling the flames, becoming an author and taking direction from his 4-year-old.
How did you like working with Joaquin?
He's a very serious and considerate actor who is thinking all the time for the best of the movie. I'd always wanted to work with him. He's one of those people that's a wish-list person.
Did you two relate?
Well, you have to know that I was the only person he'd ever asked for an autograph when he was 9 years old. He's got a picture of me from Urban Cowboy signed to him.
You two bonded by going through fire camp together?
Oh God, yes. It was a very dramatic experience. That being said, it was something that I was probably more used to than other guys because of my jet training. Three times a year, I confront emergencies in simulators in aircraft.
How many planes do you have now?
I have two, and I use them for the business, filming. I've enjoyed my 30-some-odd-year relationship with airplanes, especially flying the cast and crew around.
Any surprises in the fire training?
You have to find your way through the maze (a training structure) and they pump smoke
and you can't see, and it's hot and it's claustrophobic, and you're basically
dying. You think that you're going to die. It's awful. It's a mind-altering experience.
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