John Travolta has described the death of his teenage son Jett as “the worst thing” that’s ever happened in his life.
During an on-stage interview at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, John Travolta said: “The truth is, I didn’t know if I was going to make it.
“Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better.”
Jett Travolta died at the age of 16 in January 2009 from a seizure during a family holiday in the Bahamas.
John Travolta and Kelly Preston have since confirmed their eldest son was autistic and had a history of seizures.
The couple has two other children: 13-year-old daughter Ella Bleu and three-year-old son Benjamin.
John Travolta, 59, said he “didn’t want to wake up” following Jett’s death and that the Church of Scientology had been pivotal to his recovery in the weeks and months afterwards.
“I will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid, I mean Monday through Sunday,” he continued.
“They didn’t take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss, and to make me feel that finally I could get through a day.”
The actor has been a follower of the controversial religion since the 1970s and said it had “saved his life” on more than one occasion.
John Travolta’s 90-minute appearance saw him field questions about various aspects of his life, career and keen interest in aviation.
Also addressed was the mid-career slump that followed his appearances in Saturday Night Fever and Grease, a downturn that was only arrested when Quentin Tarantino cast him as a heroin-abusing hitman in 1994’s Pulp Fiction.
Sunday’s event, held near to, and at the same time as, this year’s BAFTA Film Awards, came two days before the actor’s 60th birthday and ended with him being presented with a cake shaped like an airplane.
Members of the audience were invited on stage at one point for an impromptu dance lesson, while a discussion on James Bond led to the star impersonating Scottish icon Sean Connery.
John Travolta’s appearance followed similar “evenings with” Al Pacino and Sylvester Stallone in London.
