Two ‘Lucky’ Guys Reunite

Together again for the first time since 1994’s “Pulp Fiction,” John Travolta and Tim Roth have spent the day promoting Nora Ephron’s new edgy comedy, “Lucky Numbers.” The Paramount film, in which they co-star with Lisa Kudrow, opened Friday.

As evening falls, Roth slouches into an armchair with a beer and Travolta sits across from him sipping Evian as he toys with a narrow slip of growth between his lower lip and his chin that resembles a strip of black Velcro. “Pulp” was a seminal film for both; it reignited Travolta’s career, which had been in the doldrums, and it brought the British Roth to the attention of American audiences. In both “Pulp” and “Lucky Numbers,” Roth and Travolta have scenes in coffee shops; they seem destined to have eggs and coffee together.

In a loose conversation, the actors talked about blending comedy and drama, Travolta’s friendship with Marlon Brando--punctuated by Travolta’s spot-on impersonation of the actor as well as that of “Pulp” director Quentin Tarantino--and working together again.

The session begins with the usual actors’ lament about favorite moments in “Lucky Numbers” that ended up on the cutting-room floor--a drunken dance by Travolta and a song by Roth.

John Travolta: Never get too attached to any scene in a movie. It’s a law of nature that it’ll get cut out.

Question: But can’t you push your weight around to keep it in?

Travolta: You could. But you really want to do what’s best for the movie. Early on you try to push because you think it’s good for the movie. But if they actually have scientific evidence. . . .

Q: You mean like audience test preview scores?

Travolta: [smirks] Yeah. Or sometimes they just say, “It needs to move along” and they try to guess at what may be holding it up.

[Roth and Travolta shrug and, almost simultaneously, both say: “Oh well, DVD.”]

Q: How do you set the tone for black comedy?

Tim Roth: Nora set the tone. Black comedy’s a dangerous phrase because it’s generally bandied about when something isn’t very funny. This is really just twisted [comedy].

Travolta: If you do it as a drama knowing that your situations are funny, you get away with more. It could be funny or not funny, and either way it works. That’s a nice foundation for humor. In drama, I’ve always loved finding the comedy. If there’s no comedy in drama, I panic until I find it. When I first read “A Civil Action,” I said, “Where’s the comedy in this?” And then I thought, “Oh, the ego of this guy is what’s hilarious, the pompousness, and he’s not even aware of how pompous he is. That’s what’s funny. I can go with that.” And here [in “Lucky Numbers”] you almost have to find the drama in the comedy.

Roth: If you start out playing it for laughs, though, you’re dead in the water.

Travolta: Right. But Lisa and I have an experience in these kinds of characters. She is to “Friends” what I was to “Welcome Back, Kotter.” We play that naivete about a character, an area that you can’t fail with because the approach itself becomes funny. Then you set it in a reality base and you’re home free.

Roth: It’s fascinating to watch because it’s very tough work to be someone like Lisa who has set out to make people laugh for a living. She approaches it very seriously.

Travolta: But I think that you’ve always approached your drama with comedy. Look at “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs.” They’re filled with comedy. You brought even more comedy to it than I think Quentin [Tarantino, who directed both films] was aware of.

Roth: Well, I always talk of “Pulp” as a comedy.

Travolta: So do I. Quentin didn’t always. He said to me [lapses into Tarantino being indignant], “Well, I didn’t write a comedy and there you are making it funny.” And I said to him, “Well, here I am with somebody’s brain splattered all over my face. I’ve got to find some way to make this funny. If we go drama with this, then I’m leaving.”

Q: “Lucky Numbers” seems to center on money as a solution to personal problems. Is that how you thought of them?

Travolta: For my character [Russ], how I played him, is he actually thought people would think less of him if he didn’t have his car, his house, not at all giving any credence to the fact that it’s his personality they might be attracted to.

Roth: He’s [Russ] got the car, his roped-off section at Denny’s, completely facetious stuff, but he completely counts on it.

Q: What about Gig [Roth’s character]? What does he think money can do for him?

Roth: I’m not sure his obsession is particularly money. I think he dispenses very sound, very honest advice to people. But that’s a facade. His real enjoyment is to watch Russ’ face as he comes to his complete destruction.

Q: So is he malevolent? You play him so charmingly.

Roth: Absolutely. But you never see trouble coming.

Travolta: He wouldn’t be seductive if he wasn’t nice. The good guys always get sucked in by the bad guys because they’re charming and sweet. How could you not trust his logic at first? The knives come out later.

Roth: He has an admiration for Crystal [Lisa Kudrow’s character] because her willingness to kill almost matches his.

Travolta: These guys are two peas in a pod and I’m stuck in the middle, that’s what makes it so hilarious.

Q: [to Roth] If you were going to direct a movie starring John Travolta, what would it be?

Roth: That’s a tricky one. I guess “Bringing Up Baby,” when Russ does those pratfalls. A lot of actors wouldn’t do that. And that’s what Cary Grant was so good at.

Travolta: It’s harder for me. It’s hard for me not to imagine him in anything.

Roth: Well, someone wanted me to do a martial-arts movie. That was quite hysterical.

Travolta: The thing that Tim has, Lisa has as well. You don’t know when life stops and acting begins. She’s that rare combination of being lighthearted and playful but being dead serious about getting it right.

[The chat turns to Travolta’s days as a child actor on the stage and his mother’s encouragement--and his friendship with Brando.]

Travolta: I was talking to Brando last night, and it was the first time I told him about my background in theater; and he didn’t know my mother was an actress, which his mother also was. And he was good friends with Gene Kelly, and I took dance from Gene Kelly’s brother Fred. It was the first time we discussed that part of our lives.

Roth: Wow.

Q: So do you ascribe to the theory that there’s acting before Brando and after Brando?

Roth: Absolutely. Any actor who has not seen “On the Waterfront” or “Streetcar Named Desire” I consider fortunate, because they get to see it for the first time and it’s one of the most extraordinary experiences ever. Beautiful things happen.

Q: What does another actor see when he watches Brando?

Roth: The impossible. The unattainable.

Travolta: I also see a bravery. I was always wildly flattered that he sees that in me. I know that I don’t feel afraid of acting. But I never knew it was appreciated and when someone like that gets it, it’s exciting. As a human being, my favorite thing about him is his ability to know someone and nail them right away. He can take someone I’ve known for a while and summarize everything they’re about in a moment because he asks the right questions.

I remember he was fascinated that I was a pilot. He tested me. He knew enough to put the average guy on the spot. And when I nailed every answer, he was just captivated. Also, I imitated him on “Saturday Night Live” and he couldn’t get over that. He loved it.

[Travolta imitates Brando saying: “It’s the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. When you, at the end, sat on Larry King’s back and started hitting his backside, I died. I don’t know if I could do that.”] Every time he sees me he brings it up and laughs about it.

Maybe it’s a prejudice for me, but I always think the greatest actors are the ones who are playful, who are childlike. When you get with Brando all he wants to do is play games.

Roth: Have you known him a long time?

Travolta: About three years. What happened was Sean Penn called me and said someone wants to talk to you. And he got on the phone and said, “Why aren’t you here?” And I said, “Who is this?” And he said, “I’m in Mexico City and I need you to be here. Sean and I are here for the weekend on some business.” And I said OK, and I thought it was Kevin Spacey pulling a trick. Then when I realized it was really him I said, “I’ll be there tonight.” So I flew there and then I brought him back.

Q: I guess that’s one of the perks of being an actor?

Travolta: It’s the best perk in the world. I was friends with Jimmy Cagney for five years before he died. Also Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant--all these people I grew up with and idolized. I came along at a lucky time. I bridged the gap between the new and the old and they were interested enough to [spend time] with me. It was invaluable the things I learned.

Roth: The bad things about being famous, well, they’re obvious. But that is the good thing. You get to meet extraordinary people, poets, writers, filmmakers.

Travolta: It’s like a golden key. The thing you have to break through is the awe of it, because you don’t want to waste these moments. You don’t want to waste time with the awkward getting-to-know-you stuff. You want to cut to the quick and exchange interesting ideas.

Roth: I have that thing sometimes of not being able to go up to people. But you have to cut through that because you may never have the opportunity again.