John Travolta addresses his daring new look at Cannes Film Festival

John Travolta directly addressed his very deliberate and specific reasons for showing up to the Cannes Film Festival with this new look.

In case you missed it, Travolta has been seen around the Southern French city wearing a close-cropped beard and moustache, thin-rimmed eyeglasses and — most memorable of all — an endless selection of slouchy berets.

He’s at the iconic festival promoting his first-ever movie behind the camera as director, Propeller One-Way Night Coach, a wholesome family adventure movie.

“I’ve been around for over 50 years doing movies, but I can’t tell, when I look back, the difference between the events,” Travolta explained in an interview with celebrity.land.

“And I said, ‘I’m a director this time. You’re an actor, play the part of a director, look like an old-school director.’ So I looked up pictures from the ’20, ’30s, ’40s, ’50, ’60s, and the old-school directors wore berets, and the glasses, and I thought, ‘That’s what I’m doing. I’m going to do an homage to being a director, so I’m going to play the part of being a director.”

He took inspiration from timeless directors such as Ingmar Bergman and Roberto Rossellini. (We won’t lie, though, it’s hard not to see evil Truman Show director Christof in director-core Cannes Travolta.)

But for the Pulp Fiction star, the new look was worth it for posterity.

“And then when I look back, I’ll know — ‘Oh, that was Propeller One-Way Night Coach, that was Cannes, that’s when I won the Palme d’Or,’ and I’ll have a vividness of it,” he said in a tongue-in-cheek conclusion (Travolta’s movie isn’t in competition for the highest honor at Cannes, but he did receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the festival).

In competition for the “real” Palme d’Or are movies from the likes of Pedro Almodóvar (Amarga Navidad), James Gray (Paper Tiger) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi (All of a Sudden).

As for how Travolta’s look has been received by the public, we dare say it’s been overwhelmingly positive.

“John Travolta earned the right to be whoever he wants to be,” one person commented under the CNNinterview on Instagram.

“If John wants to wear a beret, John can wear a beret. And he looks great,” agreed someone else.

“The 🐐 can wear wtf he wants. Pulp Fiction, Face/Off and Get Shorty alone unlocked unlimited hats,” put in a third person.