And they say you’re not supposed to have any kind of awe in this line of work. If you talk to anyone who’s ever met John Travolta, you’ll hear the now-familiar moniker: "the nicest guy in Hollywood." I’m meeting him for the first time, as childhood flashbacks flood my mind. Grease concerts in the living room for the grandparents, age 10; Saturday afternoons at the Roller Fox, skating to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack; staying up past my school night bedtime for an extra glimpse of Welcome Back Kotter; and Carrie’s devilish, sanguine bucket of blood strategically perched above an unwitting high school prom wallflower. I could go on.

John Travolta, possibly more than any other American actor, is a landmark pop culture icon, masquerading as a down-to-earth working actor. But today, I’m disarmed by the ebullient greeting of a regular guy here to talk about his heroic role as Baltimore’s Ladder 49 firehouse Captain Kennedy, who watches over and protects a band of brothers including Joaquin Phoenix, Robert Patrick and Morris Chestnut. In a stirring film that required Travolta and company to get down and dirty in a fire training school with real-life Baltimore recruits, it’s a memorably supporting role that allows Travolta a dose of humor, a modicum of action hero, and a few touching grace notes.

Lee Shoquist, Reel Movie Critic: You’ve said that with Ladder 49 you wanted to deconstruct this idea of the fireman as a myth, and find the humanity in the actual man. I wonder if you could talk a bit about your discoveries during this process, and what you might have learned.

John Travolta: There are many of them. I think the script was an awesome base for potential to do everything you’ve just said. But it really started with the fire fighting school. That was the key, because all of us had to literally learn everything about it. And in learning everything about it, we started to not only become the characters, but we started to have a camaraderie that was very similar to the movie. And of course I had the built in seniority because I was the oldest guy and they had all grown up with me. I had an advantage in that it was a built-in concept to the part. So I think that was the very smart first building block was that school that everyone had to go through. And then experiencing life with the firefighters, you know? I spent time at the firehouses and sometimes slept there, went out on drills with them and absorbed everything we could about it. We interviewed them a lot; grilled them about who they were and what they were about. I think that was very important.

LS: In terms of the firefighters themselves, as men and women, what were some of the takeaways that you learned about who they were as people?

JT: Everyone had to be competent in the physical abilities and also in the physical execution of all these different departments that they were excelling in. So, I felt like they were all capable—otherwise they wouldn’t make it through that, believe me. And number two, that they all had big hearts. They were macho guys with a lot of your natural male attributes, but they all shared a humanity that was very touching to me. This thing is different than most people, and that is the selflessness and the ability to put one’s life on the line for others; just helpful people. They were a very alive group of people that’s for sure. Because they know that they were really contributing in a way that was valid and courageous.

They get heartbroken if even a cat is not saved. That’s their job and they’ll go out of their way to do that. So they’re very wonderful and unusual people, and I think that there’s a clarity about them that is different than most professions, even the ones that are in the service business.

LS: There’s a surprising level of humor in the film, particularly with Captain Kennedy and the way that he sort of diffuses what is going on in the firehouse. It’s not the first thing that comes to mind when we think of what the mood in a firehouse might be.

JT: I think there’s always a release of some sort that has to happen. Besides the very well-known beers after work at the bar, there’s always a tension or a release and the practical jokes they play on each other because they know that any minute they may not be back either. So I think they have the right to go there and juggle that line. They have more rights than most to do that.

This was a great opportunity to make a movie that’s bigger than all of us, and has a message that’s more important than most movies have. And I thought that was pretty neat. I like to do that. I like to be in a selfless character having a selfless purpose. All the actors were of same spirit. They really wanted to do this other thing and I’d never seen anything quite like it. They were really quite onboard for this very un-actorly thing, if you will.

LS: Captain Kennedy is a character that’s rich in life experience and has an awesome level of responsibility. He’s a bit of a departure from how we normally expect to see you, and I’m wondering what you might say about him.

JT: It’s a different profession than I’ve had to play. He’s a responsible guy. He knows a little bit about what everybody does, but he’s a teacher and mentor as well. I don’t know if I’ve really played that. I play a professor that you haven’t seen yet in A Love Song for Bobby Long. But this is different. This is in a manual arena. But he has got to be a step apart from everybody else. He has to play with them, but he has to be responsible for them.

In one scene he says they’re like ‘my kids,’ or makes some funny reference to them, and there’s a different being-ness to someone that takes on more responsibility than the average- I don’t not feel like that in the cockpit, for instance. When I’m flying a full load of passengers, I get quite a responsible feeling. I’m familiar with how to feel that way because I do it in life. Being a father is not unlike that, so there’s a lot to pull from. But it’s a little more on guard because you’re over several men, over lots of equipment, you’re making life or death decisions all the time, so you have to expand that knowledge border in whatever creative ways you can find to do it.

LS: I think it’s interesting that we tend to have a very limited view of what firemen do, meaning that we see them in action so often, but there’s this whole other part of their lives during their shifts, while they are at the firehouse, where they are just waiting. There’s this downtime, sometimes waiting for something potentially awful to happen.

JT: It’s an interesting window because they know that the potential for when that bell rings is anywhere from minor to enormous. So it’s a little bit like the calm before the storm. I imagine that they get used to this lull and then they almost start anticipating the call because they have to, and live life in the anticipatory state of mind, even though they’re chilled out, looking like that, part of them is on guard like that. I think it’s probably one of the more nerve-wracking jobs in the world and underpaid. These guys don’t make enough. Most of them have second jobs and in Baltimore they make about $21,000 a year starting. And that’s not enough for what they do. Teachers and firefighters are- we need to look at that as a bit more.

LS: I wonder if you might take a look back at your career. You’ve been working in this industry across four decades. Go back to the days you were part of "Welcome Back Kotter" and working in horror films for Brian DePalma, versus where you are now. Give me the turning point, if there was one, where you came to realize, ‘I’m not really just a working actor anymore, but I’ve vaulted into a sort of cultural icon status.’ Do you feel that at all, or do you still feel like an actor just going from role to role?

JT: There’s two ways to look at it. It is a fact that there have been cultural effects that have been made by myself and my work, and that’s one thing. But the other thing—in order to do a good job in a role, you have to put your actor’s hat on, and push up your sleeves and do all the work and deliver a performance that is worthy of being on the screen. There are two aspects to it and I don’t ever confuse the two. I’m an actor for hire, man. I assume the being-ness of the role. I find it all comfortable if it’s well written and I find it all comfortable, if it’s something I feel I can do well. Whether it’s challenging or not is another issue.

LS: So you never step on set as ‘I’m John Travolta and I’m here.’

JT: Oh, God no! You wouldn’t make it very long- the people that do that- you’d die a quick death. And life is too humbling even if you wanted to go there.

LS: I know actors have different methods of approaching and building characters, ranging from intensely exploring and creating back stories to working more spontaneously. When you’re putting it all together, how integral to you is the discovery process of researching and constructing?

JT: Absolutely one of my favorite parts of the job, bar none. However, there’s a moment when it’s done and you’ve got to put it on its feet. You can feel it. It’s like this coming together of points. And when those points get closer to the combination, you say, ‘Okay. I can’t wait any longer. I’ve got to do it.’ And you know it. You know when you can think with the character. You can think with the script. Once you know that, you’ve arrived and you must go on. I get a big joy out of that. It wouldn’t be my greatest joy if I didn’t do the research—it’s also full of joy. So it’s a two-fold experience. No different than even flying a plane. You have to do your hard work and practice, and then you get to just luxuriate in the everyday professional approach you have to flying.

LS: Looking back at everything you’ve done, do you ever have a sense when you’re working on a particular project that it’s going to hit really big? And then are there other projects that you put a lot of faith in that get released and then don’t go the direction that you had expected?

JT: I don’t think I ever anticipate the success of any movie. I don’t think you can predict it. It’s like being a fortuneteller. You just do the best you can. There’s a couple—Grease was the most successful show in Broadway history at that time. There was a good chance, if we did it well, that it was going to be a hit.

But I don’t know if I can name anything else that I knew was going to be a success. Well, the books, like when you do The General’s Daughter or A Civil Action, there’s a built-in audience for them with the book, so you can probably get some predictability to that. But other than that, when you’re doing original pieces, you just have to wait. I could be sitting here and I gather you really like the movie. But it could be just as easy that I walked in, and you didn’t. It’s kind of like going to Vegas. There’s a 50/50 chance of it working out. That’s how I view it. If you view it any other way, you’re going to be heartbroken too much.

LS: You tend to work so much and seem to be one of the most prolific actors in Hollywood. It’s an exciting time for you with some terrific stuff on the way.

JT: Very exciting. There’s a movie coming out called A Love Song for Bobby Long. It was at the Venice Film Festival the opening night, and it got a standing ovation, rave reviews and it’s an art film so it needs that kind of support where the critics and the festivals have to love it to give it life, otherwise it doesn’t exist. And it was tremendous. It was really lovely. I play an alcoholic professor quite a bit older than myself, and Scarlett Johansson plays this young girl who comes into my life as well as this roommate of mine. And it’s quite a magnificent movie. Then I did the sequel to Get Shorty, called Be Cool. They’re all en route for you to love or hate.

LS: Let’s talk about Get Shorty and Be Cool for a minute. What do you think it is about your character in those two films, Chili Palmer that people seem to find so endearing and that resonates so effectively?

JT: (Sean Connery) said (in perfect Connery impression), ‘I just want to tell you, I loved it. I’ve seen it twice. What is it? Why is it so good?’ He was tying to figure out why it was so good. I said, ‘Sean, my character thinks he’s you in James Bond. A street version of it, but…’ Was there ever a cooler character than the original James Bond? And Chili Palmer loves movies, so one minute he’s Humphrey Bogart, the next moment he’s Sean Connery. Chili is just a guy being what he knows. And Dustin Hoffman was trying to figure it out.

Everybody really tried to figure out why this character was so effective. But he had permission to be all of the great characters on the screen. He was a culmination of all your cool movie icons throughout the ages, you know? I just had the opportunity to play it in a very cleverly written comedy that was very effective. Elmore Leonard was a smart guy and he knew what he was doing. And the sequel is equally funny; he’s now into the music industry.

LS: There’s so much cynical attitude thrown around on the screen these days. But you seem to have patented a certain genuine brand of hip coolness, which is almost like a signature for you, and which very few people actually have. Would you say that you’re a naturally confident person?

JT: It’s a certain kind of foundation I have as a person anyway, through my parents, who were very loving and caring. I can imagine there are some bricks there of honest confidence. But I also think that I’m very honorable to characters. If I play a character that is not confident, he’s also effective as well. It’s a mix of things at the end of the day. But I think I have some innate confidence!

LS: We talked about this idea of Captain Kennedy in Ladder 49 being a mentor to the rest of the group. I’m wondering who would have been a mentor to you over the course of your career.

JT: I had a couple of managers that were instrumental. My family, my mother and father were very instrumental, my sisters. As I got into Scientology, Hubbard was very instrumental in his way of approaching life. Brando was a very interesting guy for me to be friends with. Cagney. I’ve learned from the best. Everybody I met I think I was smart enough to get a great lesson of life from them. Stanwyck. Cary Grant. Gene Kelly. Fred Astaire. I was a very lucky man. I got to spend time with all of these wonderful people and they taught me a lot. I think mentors come in many packages, and if you’re awake and aware, you can get it from anyone.