From the time she swallowed a tooth in front of Oprah to dancing to sell grass food in a Super Bowl ad, Ella Travolta's life has basically never been normal.
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00:00From the time she swallowed a tooth in front of Oprah to dancing to sell grass food in
00:04a Super Bowl ad, Ella Travolta's life has basically never been normal.
00:09CBS News notes that Kelly Preston and John Travolta wed in 1991 after meeting on the
00:14set of the 1989 movie The Experts.
00:16Preston said on The Montel Williams Show in 2003 that fellow Scientologist Kirstie Alley
00:21deserved some credit for their relationship because of a creative seating arrangement
00:25at a party.
00:26She's always wanted us together, so she sat us next to each other at the table."
00:29By the end of the night, Preston and Travolta were dating.
00:33Scientology also played a major role in the home birth of Ella Blue Travolta in 2000.
00:37Preston explained to Today in 2011 that she attempted to have a Scientology-approved silent
00:42birth, which requires avoiding speaking during childbirth, but this was no easy feat by the
00:46time she reached her 13th hour of labor.
00:49She told Redbook,
00:50"...it got hardcore at the end because Ella was so big."
00:53The Chicago Tribune explains that the Church of Scientology also cautions pregnant women
00:57against using painkillers during childbirth, believing both drugs and noise to have traumatic
01:01effects on babies.
01:02However, Preston admitted that she did eventually beg to be taken to the hospital to get an
01:07epidural, but it was too late at that point.
01:09According to Preston, her husband was hands-on during Ella's arrival.
01:12She told Redbook,
01:13"...we pulled her out together and laid her on my chest."
01:16Despite her relatively quiet entry into the world, Ella Travolta turned out to be quite
01:20the talker.
01:21In a 2001 interview with SFGate, John Travolta bragged about his daughter having a vocabulary
01:26of around 100 words when she was just 18 months old, including the Italian word, ciao.
01:31She also met a lot of very famous people, of course.
01:34In a 2019 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Ella described her awkward encounter with
01:38Oprah Winfrey.
01:39"...I actually lost my first tooth with Oprah on a boat.
01:43I think I swallowed the tooth.
01:45Actually, maybe, so that might have not been so good, but…"
01:49Luckily, the tooth fairy made sure that she still got paid.
01:52Ella wasn't just meeting stars as a child, she was preparing to be one herself.
01:56She told People,
01:57"...since I was very little, I've loved performing, singing, dancing, and putting on shows at
02:02home for my family and friends."
02:04She revealed that she and her pals had their own stage to perform on at her parents' home
02:07in Maine, and they were a rather creative bunch who came up with their own original
02:11idea for a show, The Real Housewives of Maine.
02:14John Travolta recalled in a 2007 appearance on Oprah that a 6-year-old Ella asked Ear
02:19earlier,
02:20"...when am I going to do a movie with you?"
02:21Ella's interest in acting came at the perfect time.
02:24Not long after she spoke to her dad about it, he read the script for the Disney movie
02:27Old Dogs.
02:28Kelly Preston joined her husband and daughter in the cast, and she was impressed with how
02:32at ease Ella was in front of the camera, telling Access,
02:34"...she was amazing.
02:36She loved it."
02:37Ella was 7 years old when she began shooting the movie with her parents, and she was 9
02:40when Old Dogs hit theaters in 2009.
02:43Sadly, Ella's older brother, Jet, died just a few months before the movie premiere.
02:47According to The Guardian, Jet suffered a fatal seizure while the Travoltas were vacationing
02:51in the Bahamas.
02:53Even though they were grieving, the Travoltas attended the movie's premiere together.
02:56John told USA Today,
02:57"...we decided it was okay to come out and promote, to introduce Ella to the world and
03:01to give her a beautiful future in film."
03:04Ella Travolta wasn't ready to jump right into another project after the family finished
03:08filming Old Dogs.
03:09Her mom Kelly Preston told Access,
03:11"...afterward she said, you know, I think I'm gonna take a year off, have a little break."
03:15In a 2019 interview with KTLA 5, Ella explained that she wanted to complete school before
03:19acting again, but this didn't mean that she stopped rubbing elbows with celebs.
03:23When she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2009, Ella confessed to being a major Twilight
03:28fan, so much so that she couldn't choose between Team Edward and Team Jacob.
03:32But she was firmly on Team Jacob when she learned that Taylor Lautner was going to drop
03:36by her house in 2010.
03:37Ahead of the visit, Ella and her friends did some research on Lautner and his family, who
03:41were joining the actor.
03:42John Travolta made a typical embarrassing dad move when the group arrived.
03:45"...the first thing he says to them is, oh, Ella was just looking you guys up on the internet."
03:51Her dad didn't see anything wrong with his actions.
03:53He said that he thought Lautner would be flattered by the internet stalking.
03:57A decade after she made her big-screen debut, Ella Travolta decided to get back into acting.
04:02She found herself sharing the screen with her famous father again, and the roles called
04:05for them to return to the era of John Travolta's heyday of the 1970s.
04:09In the 2019 movie The Poison Rose, he played a detective investigating a murder, not a
04:14disco king.
04:15As for Ella's role...
04:16"...so I play the wife of a college football player who gets murdered, and I'm the prime
04:20suspect."
04:21There was also a big plot twist.
04:22John explained to Extra,
04:23"...she plays my daughter, but I don't know she's my daughter.
04:26Although I look at her, and she looks just like me, so it's going to be hard to play
04:30that."
04:31The star-studded cast also included Brendan Fraser, Morgan Freeman, and Famke Jansen.
04:36Ella told KTLA 5 that one positive aspect of working with her dad was that the two of
04:40them could practice their lines together at home, so they were better prepared to shoot
04:43their scenes.
04:44"...Definitely.
04:45I mean, it's so fun to have this as the family business and all get to do it together."
04:50The Travolta family suffered another tragic loss in July 2020, when Kelly Preston died
04:55from breast cancer.
04:56John Travolta shared the sad news on Instagram, revealing that Preston had the disease for
05:00two years and had been undergoing treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
05:04He wrote,
05:05"...I'm taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive
05:09me in advance if you don't hear from us for a while."
05:11Ella Travolta also paid tribute to her mother on Instagram, writing in part,
05:15"...I have never met anyone as courageous, strong, beautiful and loving as you.
05:20Anyone who is lucky enough to have known you or to have ever been in your presence will
05:23agree that you have a glow and a light that never ceases to shine, and that makes anyone
05:28around you feel instantly happy."
05:30She also thanked her mom for everything she'd done for her.
05:32A month later, John shared a video of himself and his daughter paying homage to Preston
05:36in a poignant way.
05:38The actor explained that Preston loved to dance, so Ella honored her mother's memory
05:42by sharing a bittersweet dance with him.
05:44Ella had a smile on her face that appeared to waver a bit as John twirled her around.
05:48An insider described Ella's relationship with her mother to Us Weekly, saying,
05:52"...Ella and Kelly were best friends and inseparable."
05:55After taking some time to grieve Kelly Preston's death, Ella Travolta and her dad stepped back
06:00into the spotlight together.
06:01In February 2021, John Travolta busted out some of his grease moves for a Super Bowl
06:06ad with Ella.
06:07Instead of doing the hand jive in a high school gym, they promoted Miracle-Gro by performing
06:11the 50s-era dance on a lush, green lawn.
06:13And rather than play the role of partner-stealer Cha-Cha DiGregorio, their co-star Martha Stewart
06:18admired John from afar, declaring,
06:20"...He still got it."
06:21Ella later gushed about how much fun she had shooting the ad, telling People,
06:25"...Each year, I always look forward to watching the Super Bowl and all of the great commercials.
06:29When Scott's Miracle-Gro offered my dad and I this opportunity, I was overjoyed to share
06:33this amazing experience, not to mention dance together."
06:37At that point, Ella had only appeared onscreen with her dad.
06:40But that changed just a few weeks later, when Deadline announced that she had signed on
06:43for her first film role without her father as a co-star.
06:46Ella landed a lead part in Get Lost, a fresh take on the beloved children's classic Alice
06:50in Wonderland.
06:51The movie reimagines the title character as a backpacker in Budapest who goes on a fantastical
06:56journey.
06:57On Instagram, John shared a photo of his daughter in costume and wrote,
07:00"...I'm a very proud dad."
07:02Ella Travolta proved that she has more than her acting talent in common with her dad when
07:06she decided to pursue a career in music, too.
07:08John Travolta hit his musical peak in the 70s thanks in part to his contributions to
07:12the Grease soundtrack, which included his chart-topper with co-star, the late Olivia
07:16Newton-John, You're the One That I Want.
07:18In 2021, Ella showed off her own singing skills on Instagram and TikTok, teasing that she
07:22was working on an EP.
07:24She also played the piano in a short video clip, and that snippet was enough to win her
07:28an instant fan following.
07:29One commenter wrote,
07:30"...you are extremely talented, I enjoyed this song and can't wait to hear the rest
07:34of it."
07:35On January 6, 2022, Ella dropped her debut single, Dizzy, and her supportive dad helped
07:39her promote it by appearing in a video with her and mouthing a few of the song's lyrics.
07:44He was rewarded with a big smile and a kiss on the cheek.
07:46Ella wrote on Instagram,
07:47"...it's been a long time coming, but I'm still that 14-year-old weird girl at heart,
07:51and I love it."
07:52It looks like she'll also always be a daddy's girl, and we're guessing John wouldn't have
07:56it any other way.
07:57He told People,
07:58"...Ella is gracious, generous, poised, graceful and gorgeous.
08:02I don't know how she came to be, and I don't take any credit other than just adoring her."