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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, November 27, 2003

Kelly Preston comes full circle with 'Cat'

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Kelly Preston, who stars with Mike Myers in "The Cat in the Hat," catches up with pals when she's home in Hawai'i.

Universal Pictures

Kelly Preston, who plays Mom in "The Cat in the Hat," remembers growing up with Dr. Seuss and still reads the children's favorite to her children.

"That's why I'm so happy to be part of a classic. I think it was fortuitous," she said of her role in the Universal film. "I so wanted to do something the kids could see."

The children are Jett Travolta, now 11, and Ella Bleu, 3. "Ella is so obsessed with 'The Cat in the Hat,' and Jett used to be too," said Preston.

Of course, she's half of a Hollywood couple; her husband is John Travolta, with whom she has worked in only one film but adored when she first saw him in "Saturday Night Fever."

While Preston, 41, may be part of the celebrity circle, a local girl also breathes beneath her Hollywood demeanor.

For instance, Preston has a Hawaiian middle name, Kamalalehua.

"It means the garden of lehua," she said of the fragile blossom honored in many a hula and often part of Hawaiian folklore.

When she's home in Hawai'i, she catches up with her pals, visits Zippy's for a plate lunch, grinds at Ono's and Keo's in Waikiki, slurps shave ice in Hale'iwa, and stocks up on see moi, or crack seed.

Kelly Preston

• Age: 41

• Born: Oct. 13, 1962

• Birthplace: Honolulu

• Education: Punahou School, University of Southern California, University of California-Los Angeles

• Children: Son, Jett, 11; daughter, Ella Bleu, 3

• Current film: "The Cat in the Hat"

• Next up: "Eulogy"

• Earlier films: "View from the Top," "What a Girl Wants," "Battlefield Earth," "For the Love of the Game," "Jack Frost," "Citizen Ruth," "Jerry Maguire, "Twins"

• Little-known fact: Her biological father drowned when she was 3.

"Some things never change; you can leave but still have the Islands with you," she said in a phone interview.

She apologized for being tardy about calling; Ella needed medical attention, so Preston went into mommy mode.

Then, in the midst of the conversation, she asked if she could take a call. "It's John, and he's calling long-distance."

She called back a few minutes later.

Preston still has family here — her mom, her dad, aunties, cousins and such.

"Oh my gosh, I have so many memories," she said. "I remember the jackass ginger, mudsliding, puka-shelling on the North Shore. I lived all over the place, in 'Aina Haina, Kahala, Hawai'i Kai, and a country house on the North Shore. There's 'ohana all over the place."

A 1980 Punahou graduate, Preston did a lot of Japanese commercials while still a teen. "I guess I was 16 when it started," she said. "I did things for a Q-tip nail polish, soda pop, clothing store, ice cream — even a chocolate commercial for the Japanese John Travolta of the time," she said.

She remembers her mom reading Dr. Seuss to her, and she's carried on the tradition with her children, never imagining she'd one day be in a movie of a classic Seuss tale.

About the neatnik mom she plays on the big screen, Preston laughed: "Oh, I'm not that way at all. You can jump on my sofa. Actually, we have a four-poster bed, and Jett used to be into gymnastics, so we reinforced the four posts with steel. So the kids can jump and swing — within boundaries."

The kids, she said, are a priority in their marriage.

"I definitely concentrate on the children; maintaining two careers takes some effort," she said.

"We're together most of the time, but there are periods when I get the kids alone; it helps to have a plane, because we can fly. Helps to have your own pilot," she said of Travolta, who is a licensed pilot.

Preston met Travolta at a screen test for "The Experts," which was "a little comedy that served a purpose of getting together," she said.

John Travolta, right, greets wife Kelly Preston and daughter Ella Bleu after arriving in Sydney, Australia, on a world tour for Qantas Airways.

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"But there is a story well known, about how I was walking out of movie when I saw a one-sheet (a movie poster) for 'Grease,' and I had a flash of knowledge, or perception, or intuition, that someday I would be with him," she said. "It was unlikely, because I was living in Australia, for two years, at the time. And I wasn't an actress at that time."

Travolta doesn't fly here nearly as often as Preston visits.

"When he comes, we sometimes go to Maui, or Kaua'i," she said. "He doesn't come to O'ahu that often."

With a leading man at home, Preston said it neither helps nor hinders her own career. "We occasionally talk business at home, since it's convenient," she said. "But we don't let it filter down to the kids."

He calls her "Hon," or "Honey"; she does the same. No nicknames or pet names, she said.

Over the years, she's worked with many stars: Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire," Kevin Costner in "For the Love of the Game," Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Twins," and most recently, Mike Myers in "The Cat in the Hat."

"Because we didn't have scenes together, we'd hang out and talk after my scenes or after his," said Preston. "Mike was amazing; we laughed a lot."

So far, the Travolta children are not yet inclined toward acting. "Jett is very much into outdoor sports," said Preston. "If there's going to be an actor, it might be Ella; right now, she just likes to put on little shows, lip-syncing with a microphone."

Next up for Preston is a black comedy, "Eulogy," due in March. "It is about a dysfunctional family, and it features an ensemble cast — Ray Romano, Rip Torn, Piper Laurie, Debra Winger, Hank Azaria and Zooey Dreschanel," she said. "We all get together for my father's funeral; and I play a lesbian, whose girlfriend is Zooey."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067, or fax 525-8055.