NEW YORK -- There are three important men in Kelly Preston's life.
There's husband John Travolta and their six-year-old son Jett, and then there's that guy named Jerry Maguire.
Two years ago, Preston played the vamp who seduced Tom Cruise in the hit sport's comedy Jerry Maguire. Almost overnight, Preston, 36, went from being Mrs. Travolta to being a star in her own right.
Since Jerry Maguire, Preston has starred in Addicted to Love with Matthew Broderick and Meg Ryan, and this Friday, she plays Michael Keaton's wife in the family comedy Jack Frost.
She has completed filming Billy Bob Thornton's movie Daddy and Them and is currently in New York shooting the baseball drama For the Love of the Game, in which she plays Kevin Costner's love interest.
"My career is at a great point and I owe it all to Jerry Maguire. I'm now getting sent some of the best scripts in town," says Preston.
"About four years ago, I made a decision not to do junk just to be on camera.
"When I married John (in September of 1991), I put my career on hold to be a wife and to have a child. Before that, I didn't have a fabulous career, but I was working."
Preston's early films included Only You, Run, 52 Pick Up, Secret Admirer and Twins.
"When I decided to resume acting, I had become Mrs. Travolta in many people's eyes so I had to prove myself all over again."
Preston took supporting roles in such films as Nothing to Lose and Ruth, which led to her audition for Jerry Maguire.
"I think I shocked Tom into giving me the role. I thanked him for letting me read and then proceeded to attack him physically per instructions in the script."
Preston is quick to point out she's not really a vamp, but is much closer to the sweet homebody she plays in Jack Frost.
"My homemaker instincts really come out around the holiday season.
"I decorate both our houses to death. I have all the lights up in our Hollywood home already and I can hardly wait to get to our property in Maine so I can start stringing lights on the 22 trees around our house."
Preston grew up in Honolulu, where she was discovered by a fashion photographer when she was 16. He helped her get work in commercials and even got her an audition for The Blue Lagoon.
She lost the role in The Blue Lagoon to Brooke Shields because she was too sultry, but the casting director recommended her for a role on the soap opera Capitol.
In her first movie Twins, she flirted with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"My tough, sexy women have always been my most successful roles, so I'm excited whenever I'm offered something a little softer and gentler.
"I really wanted to play the Kyra Sedgwick role in Phenomenon, but the studio wasn't convinced I could be that sensitive. They were also worried that because John and I are a real-life couple, if we played a screen couple, it might confuse audiences.
"They were dead wrong on both counts."
Preston first met Travolta in 1987 when they were filming The Experts in Toronto.
At the time, she was married to actor Kevin Gage. When the marriage ended a few months later, Preston moved in with George Clooney for a year and then became engaged briefly to Charlie Sheen.
She met Travolta again in 1990 in Vancouver. He was shooting Look Who's Talking Too and she was working on Run.
"John was thrilled to learn I was single. He said he'd been waiting for me those three years. We got engaged within six months and we were married the following year in Paris."
Preston says Travolta is encouraging her to take advantage of her new-found celebrity.
"For four years after Jett was born, John and I were never apart. We were a little family that travelled everywhere with him.
"Now it's kind of thrilling to be parted for five days. We always get back together on the weekends. We're very lucky that John has his private planes. Either John comes to us or we fly to John."
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