The actor premiered his feature directorial debut, “Propeller One-Way Night Coach,” at the annual film festival this week.

John Travolta gets teary accepting surprise honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes: ‘This is beyond the Oscar’

The actor premiered his feature directorial debut, "Propeller One-Way Night Coach," at the annual film festival this week.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

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May 15, 2026 3:11 p.m. ET

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John Travolta at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2026. Credit:

Olivier CHASSIGNOLE / AFP via Getty

- John Travolta was given the honorary Palme d'Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, its equivalent to a lifetime achievement prize.

- "Surprise complétement!" an emotional Travolta said in French as he got teary-eyed accepting the award. "This is the last thing I expected."

- Travolta attended the film festival to premiere his feature directorial debut, *Propeller One-Way Night Coach*.

John Travolta got emotional at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on Friday while accepting an honorary Palme d’Or, its equivalent to a lifetime achievement prize.

The actor, whose career in front of the camera spans more than 50 years, was shocked when Cannes director Thierry Frémaux presented him with the surprise award before the screening of his feature directorial debut, *Propeller One-Way Night Coach*.

"Surprise complétement!" Travolta said in French, getting teary-eyed, per *Variety*. "I can't believe this. This is the last thing I expected."

Turning to Frémaux, Travolta added, "You said this would be a special night, but I didn't know it would mean this. This is a humbling moment. This is beyond the Oscar."

"Thank you, Thierry, from the bottom of my heart," Travolta continued. "When I met with you in November, I had no expectation that my film would be accepted. And when Thierry said it was not only accepted but it was making history because it would be the first film ever accepted that early, I cried like a baby because I just couldn't believe it. Because in my opinion, you are the most discerning person in the movie industry. I was just happy to be here! I never expected this. Thank you so much."

John Travolta at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2026.

Olivier CHASSIGNOLE / AFP via Getty

Travolta, who has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor twice, is presenting his love letter to mid-century air travel, which is based on the book he wrote as a Christmas gift for his family in 1997, at the festival this year. *Propeller One-Way Night Coach* follows a young boy (Clark Shotwell) and his single mother (Kelly Eviston-Quinnett), who has dreams of Hollywood stardom, as they embark on a cross-country flight from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles in 1962. Along the way, they meet a colorful cast of characters, including a charming flight attendant, played by Travolta's daughter, Ella Bleu.

"When John came to us in the fall, he was very humble and shy with the idea of showing the film," Frémaux told the crowd at the screening in the Théâtre Debussy, revealing that *Propeller* was the first movie chosen for the 79th edition of the French festival and calling Travolta "one of the greatest artists of the 20th and 21st century."

John Travolta says directing his daughter in 'Propeller One-Way Night Coach' was 'the biggest joy of my life' (exclusive)

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Speaking with ** about the project in an interview published this month, Travolta said "several people" wanted to direct and produce it before he decided to take on the role himself. "But part of me said, 'Would they really capture what I experienced as a child?'" the *Grease* star said. "'Would they really capture and take the audience through this journey that is so subjective, so personal? Would it be authentic? I'm sure it would be good, but would it be exactly how I saw it?'"

Deciding he'd rather wait than find out, Travolta held off — for three decades — hoping that one day his schedule might accommodate the undertaking. "But that day kept on getting postponed," he said. "At first, it was in the late '90s, I was gonna do it, and then I kept getting booked in movie after movie, and I wasn't finding any room for it."

John Travolta at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2026.

Doug Peters/PA Images via Getty

Plus, he thought, "If someone else finances it, then I'll be stuck with their vision. So I decided, 'Save your money and you'll finance it, you'll direct it, you'll produce it.'"

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Though the story is semi-autobiographical — Travolta has said the book is about 50-50 real life and fiction — *Propeller *includes the actor's memories of his first plane ride, an experience that sparked a lifelong obsession with aviation.

"It's really a movie about a child's viewpoint of hopefulness," the actor explained. "When you're young, that's what you see in yourself or feel in yourself, and that's what you see in other people as well. So, it's that, along with the ambiance of the mid-century, which is permanently in my mind; I can't shed it. The music, the visuals are just embedded in my DNA, it's what gave me that hope, the architecture of the time, the music of the time, the way people dressed; it was this new, fresh, hopeful thing that was happening."

*Propeller One-Way Night Coach *lands on Apple TV on May 29.

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