Celebrity

John Travolta Reveals Two Details Everyone Missed In 'Saturday Night Fever'

John Travolta has been making a lot of waves lately while on a press tour for his latest film Gotti.

Despite appearing on talk shows to mainly promote his new movie, hosts can't help but bring up the previous works that helped him launch into stardom.

The actor was a guest on a recent episode of Live! With Kelly and Ryan, but of course, before they started to chat about Gotti, they decided to discuss one of the iconic movies that he starred in: Saturday Night Fever.

Screen Musings

In the 1977 classic, Travolta portrays Tony Manero, a 19-year-old man who spends his weekends drinking and dancing at a local disco in Brooklyn, New York.

It's easy to think we know everything there is to know about the movie that's been around for over 40 years, there are still details that we've missed while watching it.

While talking to hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan actress, Travolta surprised everyone with two little-known facts about Saturday Night Fever.

Live with Kelly and Ryan

Turns out, both his mother and sister had cameos in the movie, and many never noticed!

What roles did they play?

"Annie's a waitress and my mother's a customer at the store," John revealed on the show. His sister Ann Travolta's role was credited as "Pizza Girl," while his mother, actress Helen Travolta, was the "Lady in the Paint Store."

YouTube

"Unbelievable," said Ripa, who was taken aback by the revelation. "I never realized that was your mom!"

She continued, "That movie, I swear I've seen it 16,000 times," she said. "I'll see it for the rest of my life until the day I die. It's one of my favorites and it never gets old."

Many aspects of the movie, like the pizza restaurant and Travolta's iconic white suit, became important parts of pop culture.

Travolta explained that he no longer owns the outfit, but he wished he kept it. At one point, actress Jane Fonda wanted it in her possession, but it never worked out. It has last been sold for $145,000 during a Christie's auction.

Today, the suit is believed to be worth up to $250,000.

NY Daily News

As for the restaurant where Tony ordered the double-decker slice of pizza, it became a popular tourist destination.

While in New York, Travolta himself dressed up in a white blazer and black shirt and stopped by Lenny's Pizza to try the slice that was named in his honor.

Saturday Night Fever isn't the only film from Travolta's heyday that's been getting a lot of hype lately.

Grease, which turns 40 this year, has also been getting plenty of attention.

Billboard

While on The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon asked Travolta about the dance moves that he became well-known for.

Travolta revealed some details about the choreography that many Grease fans, did not know, including the fact that he made some of his own additions.

"The four corners! Like in Pulp Fiction, I grew up in all these novelty dances. So in Grease they needed a step for "You're the One That I Want" at the end. So I said, 'Well, we used to do the four corners, why don't we do that?'"

He then took a moment to show Fallon how the step move is done, and they do it so well!

While speaking with Kelly and Ryan, Travolta also explained how he landed his role as Danny Zuko in the musical. He was originally supposed to play a supporting role, but was cast as the male lead after Henrey Winkler turned down the role.

I wonder what other little-known tidbits Travolta has kept to himself all these years? Hopefully, he'll let them all out before he wraps up his media appearances.

Did you know about Travolta's mom and sister's cameos in Saturday Night Fever? Let us know!

Related Articles