Travolta gets surprise Cannes prize: ‘beyond the Oscar’

The Hollywood star received an honorary Palme d’Or, as he premiered his first film as a director

Hollywood star John Travolta was given a surprise lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival Friday as he premiered the first movie he has ever directed.

The man who became an icon overnight with Saturday Night Fever was visibly moved as he accepted the honorary Palme d’Or before the screening of Propeller One-Way Night Coach, which is based on a book about his first experience in an airliner.

“I just can’t believe it. This is beyond the Oscar, really,” he said as he accepted the tribute.

The festival has been laying on the love for Hollywood legends this year despite the big studios staying away, with honorary Palmes for Barbra Streisand and Peter Jackson as well as a gala screening for Vin Diesel and the stars of The Fast and the Furious franchise to mark its 25th anniversary.

Travolta – who has never won an Oscar – revived his flagging career with his iconic turn as hitman Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, which won the festival’s Palme d’Or top prize in 1994.

Many critics hailed it as his greatest performance, one that has since gone down in cinema history.