Kathy Griffin is recalling her interactions with John Travolta during her brief cameo in 1994’s cult classic Pulp Fiction.
“It’s still exciting, but it was so mind-blowing to just be, like, milling around to see Christopher Walken [on set],” Griffin, 64, said in a Tuesday, April 1, YouTube video. “I didn’t talk to him. I was too afraid to talk to him. … Anyway, it was just a wild party to be at. Like, Travolta was there.”
According to Griffin, she initially hoped to get insights from Travolta, 71, about his experience with the Church of Scientology.
“Of course, I wanted to ask him about Scientology and what it’s like to be a [member],” Griffin recalled. “I wanted to get him out of Scientology, but I was also telling myself the whole time I was at that party, ‘Don’t do it, Kathy. Do not go up to John Travolta and try to get him to leave Scientology. Quentin [Tarantino, the director] is not going to like that.’”
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She added, “It was a big inner struggle, but I didn’t do it. There’s a little part of [me] now that regrets not doing it because that would have been, if nothing else, a very good chunk of my [stand-up] act.”
Griffin made a brief appearance as herself in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, which starred Travolta and Uma Thurman. During that time, Travolta was a noted member of the Church of Scientology. The Grease actor joined the organization in 1975 when he was 21 years old.
Travolta later told Us Weekly exclusively in 2019 that Scientology helped him and wife Kelly Preston cope with their son Jett’s death in 2009. Jett, who was 16 years old, had suffered a fatal seizure. (Travolta and Preston, who died in 2020, also shared daughter Ella and son Benjamin.)
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“The church never left our sides for two years,” Travolta exclusively told Us in January 2019. “I don’t know if I would have made it through without their support. Our church is the No. 1 thing that keeps us grounded.”
Travolta has also frequently defended Scientology as the religious organization has faced various criticisms over the years. During a 2015 appearance on Good Morning America, the actor called his religion “misunderstood.”
“You know, people really need to take time and read a book … that’s my advice,” Travolta said on GMA. “You could read New Slant on Life or Dianetics, and I think if you really read it, you’ll understand it. But unless you do, you’ll speculate, and I think it’s a mistake to do that.”
