You know the face well . . . and so do millions of people all over the world. Now get ready for something different. Watching the charmingly rotund housewife Edna in the recently released film Hairspray, you'll barely recognise John Travolta, the macho star of Grease, Get Shorty, Pulp Fiction and dozens of other films he's made over the past three decades.

The guy who pilots his own 707 playing an old-fashioned stay-at-home mum? Yep, and he does it with gusto. While some male actors might flinch at tapping into their feminine side, Travolta, 53, has always taken risks in his career and his personal life – from playing assassins and alcoholics on screen to proudly speaking out about his faith in Scientology.

Travolta sat down with Reader's Digest near his adopted hometown of Ocala, Florida, for an after-midnight snack. The self-professed night owl opened up about embracing middle age, his life with wife Kelly Preston, 44, son Jett, 15, and daughter Ella, 7, and what it takes for a man to create a character who's just like a woman.

RD: Does it take courage for a man to play a woman?
Travolta: If it's a good part, it takes no more courage than playing an addict or a president. My career has been pretty bold. It's courageous if you're not used to doing courageous things.

RD: There are men out there who wouldn't be caught dead in a dress. I think you have to be pretty . . .
Travolta: Confident? I am. As an actor, I've always been that way.

RD: Where does that come from?
Travolta: My parents and my family, and the public. They really go with whatever I do.

RD: They do, don't they?
Travolta: Yeah, I feel like I have a tacit agreement with them. I trust my audience more than the people that work with me do. I'll say to a director, producer or another actor, "Trust me, this is working better than you think." It's like, don't mess with what I got going here with these people, because I have 32 years, plus another ten years of theatre before that, and I know how my particular abilities affect an audience.

RD: Did you help create Edna's shape?
Travolta: I sure did, baby. Every inch of her. I wanted her to look like Sophia Loren if you added 200 pounds (about 100 kilograms). Very voluptuous. I didn't want her to be Grandma. I wanted her to be a sexy bombshell who was fun to look at.

RD: How long did it take to transform John Travolta into Edna every day?
Travolta: 5 hours. First, it was the gel-filled prosthetics I wore. Then it was the make-up. Then the wig. Then the fat suit, the clothing over the fat suit, the shoes.

RD: Your co-star and dancing partner is Christopher Walken. He's . . .
Travolta: Hilarious. It was my idea to have him play my husband. He's a great actor, and I didn't know anyone else who could sing and dance as well as he could.

RD: Your mannerisms as Edna, from the way you move your hands to your wide-eyed smile, are completely, believably female. How'd you do that?
Travolta: When I was a kid, I watched my mother. It was so much effort for her to get into the accoutrements of the day – girdle, stockings, the bra that dug in if you were well-endowed, which my mother was. So when I did all that in the film, I said, "Ah, this is déjàvu."

RD: So you think women have it easier nowadays?
Travolta: I think from watching my wife dress, she has it a lot easier. But in those days, it was part of the fun of what they did for men and how important it was to doll up for a man. There was a kind of naiveté and an innocence to all that, which I remember very well. I kind of like that energy.

RD: Did you use any other models for Edna – Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie or Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire?
Travolta: No, no, no. My models were more along the lines of musical theatre, and women more than men.

RD: Edna on Broadway is often a campy, drag performance.
Travolta: Yes, but that wasn't interesting to me. I was playing a woman. It's not that I'm not entertained by drag. But I'm an actor. If I'm going to play a woman, let me play a woman. Don't let me pretend to be, and wink, wink, I'm a guy under here.

RD: Did Kelly ever go to the set?
Travolta: She loved going to the set. She would cry every time she saw me as Edna.

RD: You mean cry as in laugh?
Travolta: Cry as in laugh, and be moved by it. The way I was playing her, Edna is a very poignant character.

RD: How about the kids?
Travolta: Ella loved Edna. But she did not like Edna half-dressed. If I just had the [face, neck and cleavage] prosthetics on, and my short hair, Ella would say, "I like Edna a lot, but I don't like Flapper," which is what we called the prosthetic because it had a flap.

RD: Tell us about Ella.
Travolta: She's got the personality of a 30-year-old. The other day she said, "Daddy, what's your favourite book?" I said, "When I was little, I liked To Kill a Mockingbird." She said, "I mean today." I hesitated. She said, "It's OK, you don't have time to read." It was like, you're not well-read. I'll bail you out.

RD: How about Jett?
Travolta: As much as Ella loves show business, he loves the outdoors – sports, swimming, bike riding, hiking. Ella is going to be in a film with us later this year because that's her forte. It's a comedy called Old Dogs, with Robin Williams, me, Ella and Kelly.

RD: By Hollywood standards, your marriage to Kelly has been long-term. What's the secret?
Travolta: We're going on 16 years. We work at it. We update each other with our changes, needs and wants.

RD: What do you mean by "update"?
Travolta: Something can happen in your life, and you might want and need something different from your spouse. Most people forget that you have to create relationships. The allure of the first years settles down, and at that moment, you better start creating it; otherwise, you're going to lose out.

RD: You once said that part of what keeps your marriage intact is that you don't want to be single again.
Travolta: I do not want to be single.

RD: I heard you'll be trying to have another child soon?
Travolta: Probably after we finish Old Dogs. Kelly and I like the idea of having a child around all the time. That's much more interesting to us than having our own time again. Having kids is something you can't always do. Kids are like lightning. You grab that lightning when you can get it. Plus, infants just make me so happy.

RD: Even when they wake you in the middle of the night?
Travolta: Oh, yeah. Kelly and I used to race to see who could get to Jett first.

RD: You and Kelly are very open about your involvement with Scientology. Were you ever afraid to speak out about your religion?
Travolta: Never. But in order to speak up safely, I usually waited until someone asked me. I'm proud of us. We really do make a difference in the world.

RD: What did you think about the criticism Tom Cruise got when he spoke out about Scientology's views on psychiatric medications?
Travolta: Freedom of speech is our nation's motto, and no one should be punished for speaking their opinion. It's a strong subject matter he feels passionately about.

RD: You've been famous since you were 20. Has that been a challenge?
Travolta: I was suited for fame, and I mean that in the most non-egocentric way. I don't mind gearing my life towards privacy. It's my nature.

RD: Do you have any regrets?
Travolta: I wouldn't trade my career with anybody's. I'd trade a few films with Tom Hanks – Apollo 13 and Forrest Gump – but other than that, I love my career. I've done 45 films, and 30 of them you're going to know of.

RD: 45 films in 30 years – that is prolific.
Travolta: I'd like to think it is, but Jimmy Cagney did about 80 films in his career. The point is that 30 of the movies I've done are iconic on some level, whether they're from a book or changed society or were the biggest of their day. Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Urban Cowboy, Look Who's Talking, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty . . .

RD: Was turning 50 hard for you?
Travolta: A little. I'm the eternal optimist, but for about a year I started to count my summers and Christmases, and to ask, "How many more will I have while I'm healthy?" I started questioning, and I had never questioned. Then I said to myself, "You're wasting your time, because you've already lived more than a lot of people, and if you get any more time when you're healthy and vibrant, this is a wonderful thing. You're wasting time worrying about something that you have no control over." I dropped it. I also stopped looking at the bad examples of people getting older, and started looking at the good examples.

RD: Such as?
Travolta: Sean Connery is the kind of 76 I want to be. Clint Eastwood, that's the kind of 77 I want to be.

RD: What else would you like to do personally and professionally?
Travolta: Doing a film with my daughter and my wife was a dream, so I'm very happy that's happening. I want to keep stimulated. I want to keep my interests going and keep my passion. I've put all my energies into my career, my family and my passion for aviation, so now maybe shift a little and try some other things. Maybe take up fishing, become more committed to a [sports] team, be out there a little more participating in activities. And it's good timing, because the body needs it.

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