Ever since his comeback in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction", John Travolta has had varying success at the box office, with so-so action flicks like "Broken Arrow" and "Swordfish" - hitting his lowest point with pet project "Battlefield Earth". In military thriller "Basic", he hopes to recapture the success of his onscreen pairing with Samuel L Jackson.
Tell us about your character...
He's like a mastermind. He's thoughtful and physical and he uses humour and his sexuality to manipulate situations. I met Rangers as part of the preparation for this role, and they're in great shape and they all have this confidence and this cockiness about them - so I wanted to capture that.
The cockiness is certainly developed through the humour, isn't it?
Absolutely. I couldn't wait to say those lines. I couldn't wait to do the good cop/bad cop. It's just so much fun to do that kind of stuff. You know, I think that this film was put together by some really smart people and I think it gives you something to think about and be entertained by at the same time. I like that.
How did you get into shape for the part?
It was a very painful process! The only thing that wasn't painful was that I chose not to diet. I chose to exercise more instead. I don't like diets and I don't believe in them really. It might be painful, doing exercise and all that, but at least it's a plus, whereas dieting and restricting is a minus.
But you dropped 25lbs for this role. That's quite a lot...
Well, the exact chronology was over three years. I tried to lose a little weight for "Swordfish" and then when this script came to me, I saw that I was a Ranger and so the character needed to be in great shape. And losing all that weight really helped me with the role. I really felt that the physical presence was an important part of the character.
It rains throughout the movie...
Actually, the only section where I had trouble with the rain was a scene with an airplane. That was a tough few days in the rain but other than that, the rain was really just atmosphere - a backdrop in the interior scenes. I really like atmosphere in movies and so, if I'm in a scene and I hear rain, I believe it's rain. Anything filmmakers do to create ambiance and atmosphere, I just buy it. And then I add it to what I'm playing so that feeling of the rain helped me.
