Ella Travolta Steps Into the Spotlight With Dad John

John Travolta has never been shy about his pride for his daughter — but standing on the Tonight Show stage on May 19, watching a clip of Ella Bleu Travolta’s performance in his directorial debut, the Grease legend said it as plainly as he could.

“A star is born right,” he told host Jimmy Fallon, after Fallon noted that Ella was “fantastic.”

It was a big week for the Travolta family. Just days earlier, John, 72, had premiered Propeller One-Way Night Coach at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival — and walked away with a surprise he never saw coming: an honorary Palme d’Or. But standing next to his daughter on that red carpet, watching her shine at 26, clearly meant just as much.

The Film That Brought Them Together Again

Propeller One-Way Night Coach is a deeply personal project for John. The Apple TV film — which he wrote, directed and narrated — is an adaptation of his own 1997 children’s book of the same name, telling the story of his very first flight as a kid. Ella plays a flight attendant in the film, and the two attended Cannes together to promote it ahead of its May 29 streaming debut.

For Ella, the night at Cannes was something she wanted to hold onto. “I knew it was just such a special night for my whole family that I sort of made sure to put myself in the moment and really take it all in,” she told People. “And it felt very calm, actually, and very just beautiful and very emotional.”

As for John’s Palme d’Or — he genuinely had no idea it was coming. “I didn’t expect this at all,” he told Fallon, bringing the award with him to the studio. The honor had apparently been set in motion about five months earlier, after festival director Thierry Fremaux screened the film and decided to make it a special occasion — though not even Travolta’s own team was told. Only the Apple TV crew knew. “I cried,” John said. “I couldn’t believe that he felt that way.” He later posted about it on Instagram, writing: “I’ve never been more proud to win an award! To me the Cannes Palme d’Or award has always represented art at its finest. It is beyond a humbling experience.”

This isn’t the first time Ella and her father have shared a screen. Their collaboration goes back further than most people realize.

A Career That Started at Age 7

Ella Bleu Travolta was born on April 3, 2000, to John and his wife, actress Kelly Preston. She made her onscreen debut in the 2009 Disney comedy Old Dogs — alongside both of her parents — at just 7 years old. The story of how it happened is very on-brand for a kid who clearly knew her own mind: John first floated the idea when she was 5, but Ella told him she wasn’t ready. Two years later, when she changed her mind, he moved fast, locking her into a role in a film he’d already been offered. Kelly joined too, making it a full family affair.

“It was the best filming experience I’ve ever had, bar none,” Kelly said at the time while promoting the film. “It was just the greatest to be able to be in her first movie.”

Ella went on to appear alongside her dad again in 2019’s The Poison Rose, before landing her first leading role in the Alice in Wonderland-inspired film Get Lost. In 2026 alone, her IMDb credits include both Alicia in Wonderland and Propeller.

“I always jump at the opportunity to do something with my dad and we always have the most fun doing something together,” she told People in 2023.

The creative pull has been there from the beginning. “Pretty much as long as I can remember, I’ve always just loved the arts in general — acting, singing, dancing, and I grew up around it,” she told Parade in 2023. “So it was just such a natural part of my life that continuing to do that just feels right.”

Singer, Songwriter — and a Tribute to Her Mom

Acting is only part of the picture. During the pandemic, Ella started writing and recording snippets of songs on her own — and when her dad heard them, he didn’t let it go. “He was like, ‘Oh, wow, you should really finish these. You should finish these songs, and then you could record demos of them or something,’” she recalled on the 3rd hour of TODAY.

She released her first single, “Dizzy,” in 2022, followed by “Little Bird” in 2024. John co-produced her debut EP, Colors of Love, which also dropped in 2024.

“He’s amazing and he’s so protective because he’s been in this industry — in the movie industry, in the music industry — forever, so he knows how to protect me in that sense,” Ella said.

“Little Bird” carries a weight that goes beyond a debut single. It’s a tribute to Kelly Preston, who died in July 2020 at 57 after a private battle with breast cancer — a loss that shook the family deeply, coming just over a decade after the death of Ella’s older brother Jett, who suffered a fatal seizure at 16 while the family was vacationing in the Bahamas in 2009. John and Kelly later welcomed a third child, son Benjamin, in November 2010.

The music video for “Little Bird” features family footage, and Ella has spoken about what the song means to her. “This was sort of my message from a baby bird to a mama bird,” she said on TODAY. “And also to yourself too, because you will always know what’s right.”

Fashion, Painting, and What Comes Next

Ella has also been quietly building a presence in the fashion world. John celebrated her New York Fashion Week debut in 2022 with an Instagram post — “So proud of Ella’s debut at fashion week in New York City!” — and she’s been leaning into it more since. “I do love fashion. I’m definitely finding myself more and more in the fashion world,” she said on the Tea Time podcast in 2025, adding that she’d love to design something someday. “I think it would be really, really cool.”

Her creative interests don’t stop there. “I love painting as well,” she said. “And as long as I have some creative outlet, I’m happy.”

The mutual admiration between father and daughter runs deep. John told People in 2019: “She is her own person. She is gracious, generous, poised, graceful and gorgeous. I don’t know how she came to be, and I don’t take any credit other than just adoring her. And maybe that’s a valid contribution.”

Ella, for her part, is just as devoted. “He’s my biggest fan, and I’m his biggest fan, so there’s a lot of support going on,” she told Parade. “I learn so much from him, all the time.”

Oh — and there’s one more milestone she’s hoping for. She’d love to record a Christmas duet with her dad someday.

Given how this year has gone for the Travoltas, it doesn’t seem far off.