Uh-Oh, Someone's Wearing White After Labor Day

By Rebecca Winters

John Travolta's raven mane is nearly as integral to his appeal as his dance-floor-ready hips and dimpled chin. But in A Love Song for Bobby Long, a drama set in New Orleans and due next month, the Pulp Fiction star goes gray to portray an alcoholic literature professor befriended by SCARLETT JOHANSSON. This is no silver-haired sophisticate like Tom Cruise's assassin in this summer's Collateral. "Bobby Long is bruised fruit," says Travolta, 50, of his character. "Kind of decrepit." As for the premature aging, no biggie. "It's never been an issue for me to grow old, grow gray, grow fat, grow skinny." So far only one critic has balked at the look: "My daughter freaked out."