People: The hairspray was the least of his problems
In the wee hours of a recent Saturday morning, on the soundstages of the new movie version of “Hairspray,” the fat lady sang. Or at least lip-synched to a pre-recorded track.
And then it was over for John Travolta as the “Grease” star wrapped his return to musicals.
Travolta said goodbye to the generously proportioned Edna Turnblad – the role created by the late Divine in the 1988 John Waters film, and by Harvey Fierstein in the smash Broadway show.
“It’s good,” an exhausted Travolta said of finally being freed of Edna’s cumbersome body. “The effect that I caused is fun and all, but it’s a lot of work, man.”
Travolta, 52, spent a week filming the grand finale, “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” with Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, Christopher Walken as hubby Wilbur and bubbly newcomer Nikki Blonsky, 17, as Edna’s daughter, Tracy.
While that scene capped Travolta’s involvement, the film’s shoot continues through early December.
Travolta wanted to make Edna sexier and real, not a campy drag act. That required four hours of prep time before putting in eight hours of performing in padding and silicone prosthetics.
“You feel like you are coming out of a prison. It’s such a relief to get air again to the skin and breathe again,” he says.
It’s the first time in his long career that he has played a woman, save for doing Barbra Streisand on “Saturday Night Live.”
Becoming Edna was an eye-opener. “I thought, ‘My God, how do women do that?’ ” Travolta says.
“I know my mother had a girdle, bra and sometimes a cinch, but, wow – how do they ever endure stockings and high heels? The discomfort level was astonishing.
“When you have all that dancing to do and a level to live up to, you just go for it and forget the suit. But when that number is over, you’re gasping. It may be called ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat,’ but I call it ‘You Can’t Find Your Breath.’ “
Travolta isn’t exactly breathing easy over his next project, a big-screen adaptation of TV soap “Dallas,” which was scheduled to start filming this month but is delayed until January.
He’ll still play wily J.R. Ewing. But other actors previously attached – including Jennifer Lopez as Sue Ellen, Luke Wilson as brother Bobby and Shirley MacLaine as Miss Ellie – are gone.
“They did this survey thing, I guess,” he says. “They liked me as J.R. and loved the title of ‘Dallas.’ But they want to see me with comedians around me, to make sure it is a comedy.’
The good news is, viewers are hog wild over the trailer for “Wild Hogs,” his upcoming March comedy co-starring William H. Macy, Martin Lawrence and Tim Allen as cross-country motorcyclists.
Says Travolta: “The coming attraction scored the highest in Disney’s history.”
The birthday bunch
Singer-songwriter Ike Turner is 75. Actress Elke Sommer is 66. Singer Art Garfunkel is 65. Actor-playwright Sam Shepard is 63. Singer Peter Noone (Herman’s Hermits) is 59. Singer Bryan Adams is 47. Actress Tilda Swinton (“The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”) is 46. Actress Tatum O’Neal is 43. Musician Ryan Adams is 32.