John Travolta's 'old-school director' ensemble at Cannes goes viral

John Travolta wanted to look the part, adding his own twist to method dressing on the red carpet.

The longtime actor, known for "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever," attended the 79th Cannes Film Festival for his directorial debut, "Propeller One-Way Night Coach."

Following his first public appearance at the event in years, Travolta went viral for his spiffy ensemble. Travolta, 72, paired a suit with a cream-colored beret and vintage-styled glasses.

He explained in an interview with CNN that he wanted to look like "an old-school director," and mark this specific moment in his career.

"I've been around for over 50 years doing movies, but I can't tell when I look back the difference between the events. And I said, I'm a director this time. You're an actor, play the part of a director," Travolta said. "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.'"

He continued explaining the inspiration behind his getup: "I'm doing an homage to being a director, so I'm going to play the part of being a director."

"And then when I look back, I'll know, oh, that was 'Propeller One-Way Night Coach,' that was Cannes, and that's when I won the Palme d’Or, and I will have a vividness of it."

Travolta awarded prestigious Cannes honor

Travolta was emotional after being awarded a Palme d’Or, the festival's most prestigious honor, before a screening of his new film.

"I can’t believe this. This is the last thing I expected," the actor said as he held the trophy, as seen in a video shared by Variety. He thanked Cannes director Thierry Fremaux, described the moment as "humbling" and said, "This is beyond the Oscar."

"When I met with you in November, I had no expectation that my film would be accepted. And when Thierry said it was not only accepted but it was making history because it would be the first film ever accepted that early, I cried like a baby because I just couldn’t believe it," he said. "Because in my opinion, you are the most discerning person in the movie industry. I was just happy to be here! I never expected this."

"Propeller One-Way Night Coach" is set to premiere on Apple TV on May 29.

Contributing: Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY

Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected].