Caffeinated Clint
Kelly Preston may co-star as a flying superhero in the new film "Sky High", but while talking up her comedic role in the Disney movie, she had no hesitation in defending Tom Cruise’s recent anti-drug attacks. Preston denies that her recent speaking out, however, was anything new.
“Well, I’ve been speaking about the issue for the last seven years,” Preston was saying in a Los Angeles hotel room. “I’ve been a child advocate for years on this and other issues and children’s rights, so it’s something very important to me. And the last couple of weeks, because there have been people speaking out, and because Tom [Cruise] has spoken out, the FDA has issued two or three different warnings, stating that these drugs, which have been prescribed for years, cause suicide, hallucinations, violence, and psychosis. I think it’s an issue worth exploring a lot more, because the public has been misled.” Preston says that this issue goes far beyond scientology. “It’s the fact that there are scientologists being vocal about it, it’s a wonderful thing, but it’s certainly not only scientologists. It doesn’t matter what your religion, what your background, what your race, if this affects all of our children, and we become a prescribed drug culture, where there are millions of kids being prescribed these drugs, and millions who are now abusing them, it’s the drug of choice to abuse now in our country. You have Ritalin, you’ve got Adderall, you’ve got Concerta, you’ve got Paxil, all stimulants and anti depressants, and these psychiatric drugs have been proven to have horrendous risk. Talk to any parent, and I think they’re very relieved that this issue is coming out.”
While there was a time that scientologist actors kept quiet on this religion, Preston has no qualms about speaking out and defending a religion often vilified by the media, especially in the light of Cruise’s recent remarks. “But see, that’s one viewpoint really, I think there’s so many people being helped, and so many people who are thrilled for the help, and who are interested in Scientology. I love being a scientologist, as it’s helped me in every single aspect of my life. It gives me tools in my relationship, it gives me things to help me with my children, to help me as a person spiritually, in helping others, in living and being happy, in having what I want and doing what I want, and just as a person, it has helped me.”
Preston also enjoys a strong, 13-year marriage to John Travolta, and hopes for at least another child. “We definitely want to have at least one more. With my age, I think, unless I have twins, we will probably only have one more baby.” Preston says that their children cope well being the children of superstar parents, defining their lives as normal, with just a few exceptions. “Well, they’re pretty level headed kids, who know what we do, but it’s also kind of yeah right, okay, mom and dad, they work in trailers, and they do these cool things, and we get to see them in movies. But also we do so much as a family, that’s so normal, with our kids, that they’re pretty well adjusted and level headed. The premieres are, kind of exciting, especially to Ella, who loves limousines. One time, she asked:, can I have my own limousine? So she and her little girlfriend went in our limo, and we took our car, to John’s [Travolta] last premiere. It was hilarious.” That ‘normalcy’ continues when it comes to vacationing. While most families go through security at an airport, having a pilot for a dad also has it perks, Preston further concedes. “Daddy flies a jet, and that’s amazing, because you don’t have to go through the airport experience all the time, but she likes it, it’s funny. Last year, he flew us around the world and flies us to any place. We have the airport there, the runway, at the house in Florida, so he is a plane man. if he could, he flies five, six days a week.”
So perhaps it’s ironic, that Preston would chose to play a flying superhero in "Sky High", the comic tale of superhero parents whose only son is yet to discover his own superpowers. Dressed to the neighs in a flashy skin-tight suit, Preston admits it was a guilty pleasure dressing up into that costume, flying through the air. “it was definitely a lot of fun to step into the boots and costume, put on the cape, and then also get to fly. We had a lot of fittings to get it to be what it was, as it was very unwieldy at first. It’s basically a rubber suit, and it took two women in the morning, to yank it.”
Preston says she’s planning on taking some time off before deciding what her next project will be, but she’s also become a spokesperson for Neutrogena. “They approached me, and I thought it was a wonderful group of people, and the fact that it’s more than I think a beauty company was a factor. I grew up with Neutrogena, so, I used it for years and years, but that was the only thing that I really was aware of, and then I got more educated, and I’ve tried a lot of the different products, such as that that little, microdermabrasion, which is genius. It’s amazing, and it takes off the dead skin. We want to look our best sometimes, so if I can help in that way, then great. That’s all really. It doesn’t take that much time out of my life.”
SKY HIGH OPENS ON JULY 29
– PAUL FISCHER
