In some mega-exclusive club where Hollywood stars get together to smoke cigars, talk shop and compare payslips, there’s a bet running on who can make the most spectacular premiere entrance. Will Smith arrived for his Bad Boys II London function in a yellow Humvee, while Tom Cruise used a speedboat/taxi/helicopter/sports car/subway combination to get to the New York debut of Mission: Impossible III. Last night it was the turn of John Travolta, who roared triumphantly into Leicester Square and down the red carpet on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, in formation with his Wild Hogs co-stars Tim Allen and Ray Liotta and to the soundtrack of Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Be Wild.. The combination of A-list actors, road-beasts and tight black leather whipped the assembled crowd into a frenzy – after 30 minutes of signing autographs and weathering disturbingly intense shrieking, the stars headed into the foyer.
“That ride in was the best part of the day, easy,” grinned Travolta, clearly in hog heaven and sporting a black bandana. “Did we take the bikes all the way from the hotel? Nah, me, Tim and Ray got on them in an alleyway only a couple of blocks away.” Now that would have been a strange sight for anyone walking through the West End after work..
According to Travolta, he’s the most experienced biker in the gang. “I’ve been riding these damn things since I was 18 years old, so I was a little bit of a show-off in front of the guys. Even when I was little, I loved speed, anything that moves – boats, planes, trains, cars, motorcycles. Now, I gotta say, nothing beats flying planes, but riding a bike comes a good second.” Before heading into the bar, he bigged up one of his next projects: “You know what? Dallas is going to be really cool. My take on JR will fuse my most cynical and most charming aspects moments of cinema together. I’m hoping it’s going to be an all-out comedy.”
Next up was Liotta, who plays to type as the psychotic leader of a Hell’s Angel-style gang. “It was a pain in the butt to put all these tattoos on every day, I can tell you.” And how about acting alongside real-life bikers, many of whom look tougher than a $5 steak? “Well, no matter how hard people are in real life, sometimes when you point a camera at them they just freeze up. I had to give some of those guys a little coaching. It was a nice, fun shoot - and John and Tim are great entertainers.”
Finally it was the turn of Buzz Lightyear himself, Tim Allen, to run the cinema-lobby gauntlet. In Wild Hogs he plays a responsible dad who gets to cut loose on the road trip. According to Allen, shooting the movie was just as liberating an experience for him. “I’m normally working on kids movies, so to be on a motorcycle with the guys, where I can swear and mess around, that was awesome. I was always feeling like a kid, looking for the parents saying, ‘Hey, you can’t say that!’” |
