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