Q: So what were the joys of Paris for you?
JT: What were the joys of Paris…Well, mine may be different from Jonathan, since he’s a single man! I think Luc and I just enjoyed the food! But there was this beautiful hotel. I got married to my wife there.
But I came home from work around midnight one night, and I said to my daughter and my son who had a couple of friends with them, how would you like to go to downtown Paris for pizza on the Champs Elysees, and then hot cocoa.
And they were like, at this time of night? And I said yes, believe it or not. So we went downtown and had pizza. And at 2 a.m., we’re sitting and having hot cocoa. And for them, it was like a whole universe of lifestyle, you know? So that was one of my highlights, with the kids in the middle of the night, in Paris.
Q: What about your love of flying, and making a movie about that?
JT: You know, I was the first guy to develop the Howard Hughes script. I’ve even written my own airplane scripts. I haven’t found the definitive aviation script, and I wish I could. I’d love it. I just haven’t had much luck finding it. But it would be great.
Q: How do you feel when you look back and see yourself in Welcome Back Kotter and Saturday Night Fever?
JT: I see a little boy! I mean, I thought I was very advanced and mature in those days. And maybe I was. But I look so…young! But proud of myself. I had a great start. You know, I started in this industry with a bang. Saturday Night Fever and Grease, back to back.
And I got my first Academy Award nomination. And my mother told me, this is porterhouse steak! So, those are my memories of those early days.
Q: Now wasn’t that your family up in the Eiffel Tower with you during one scene?
JT: You win the award for observation, that’s absolutely true! That was my wife and my daughter. We were shooting there, and my daughter hadn’t yet seen the Eiffel Tower. We were shooting in the middle of the day.
And I said hey, you should come up and visit while we’re shooting there. And then I asked if they could be the extras in that scene. And they graciously agreed, and there you have it!
Q: What was most challenging for you physically?
JT: Well, the whole thing was challenging. Because I said, you really want me to do all these stunts! Like going upside down on a pole shooting two guns. And rolling down buildings, and jumping off. And I said, I’m an old man! You don’t really expect this.
And they were like, so what! But the odd thing was, there was such a confidence in that I could do it, that I decided, well hell. I’m going to live up to their expectations. So I went and did it. And I really was proud that I attacked it, in that full-bodied way.
So it really paid off. Because I’ve never done this much action in a movie. You know, ever. Even though I’ve been in two John Woo movies. This was the most running and jumping and fighting and flipping. And the body was still able to do it!
Now, Jonathan is a young whippersnapper. So his body is made to do that kind of thing.
Q: So how come your secret agent seems to know so much about what’s really going down, way ahead of time?
JT: Ha! But my daughter is the smartest one who’s seen the movie! Do you know what my 9-year-old said to my wife last night? As soon as she put that ring on his finger in the movie, she said, Mommy, there’s a transmitter in that ring! And she’s up to no good.
And nobody, in all our test screenings, and all the press screenings, had ever originated that. And yet a 9-year-old did.
Q: Let me guess, she read the script. While you were at work!
JT: Yeah! That’s real funny….
Q: So what’s the secret to your amazing screen work?
JT: It’s the Chinese menu.
Q: Huh?
JT: I got that from Meryl Streep. You give the director a menu of different choices on how to do a scene. And they pick the one they like. So I said, we’re gonna do the Chinese menu. I’m giving you funny, straight, dramatic. And as many styles as you want. And it works.
Q: What’s next for you?
JT: I’m still taking some time off. So I’m here for this film, and then I’m waiting for…the next great one! But I did three in a row, and this is my third one. So now I’m going to wait for something I really like. Yep…
Q: What about your humanitarian flight to Haiti?
JT: What happened in Haiti, was that I had the privilege to fly my big Boeing down. Because it was sitting there empty. And I felt a duty, and a responsibility to fill it. And fill it with doctors, and fill it with supplies and food. And medicines.
And the cool thing I found, was that when we unloaded seven tons of supplies, I promised the doctors on board that the supplies we brought, would stay with them. So it wouldn’t get disbursed among all the others. And the good news, was that yesterday and today, I got full reports that the supplies did stay with them.
So they were successful with hundreds of patients. And everything was all fresh and very user friendly. And that was very satisfying.
