Sitting around the dinner table with John Travolta as he checks your homework is, naturally, an experience limited to his three children with his late wife Kelly Preston. That is, unless you’re Dominique Swain. The actress got her start working alongside John, as well as Nicolas Cage, in Face/Off (1977) and as the titular character in Lolita.
We’re catching up on Dominique’s continuing work in show business, her long-term boyfriend and that first role that brought her into the company of Grease’‘s Danny Zuko. Though, expect fewer hand jives, kitschy school dances, and illegal races — face-swapping FBI hunts work up enough of a sweat.
© Ron Galella Collection via GettyDominique Swain starred in Face/Off alongside John Travolta and Nicholas Cage
Who is Dominique Swain?
Dominique Swain debuted in the US with a supporting role in Face/Off (1997), alongside John Travolta, before starring as the titular role in Adrian Lyne’s controversial adaptation of Lolita, which released in the US in 1978. Based on the 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, the story traces a literature professor’s obsession with a 12-year-old girl. Dominique’s also starred in movies like Alpha Dog (2006), alongside Bruce Willis, and is credited with over 100 film appearances, per IMDB.
Raised in Malibu, Dominique is the middle daughter of three, born to mother Cindy and electrical engineer father David in 1980. Her sisters have also gone into the arts, with Alexis working as a makeup artist and sister Chelse an actress like Dominique.
© FilmMagic, IncJohn Travolta plays Dominique Swain’s father in the action thriller Face/Off
Starring with John Travolta in Face/Off
For her work in Face/Off, the actress starred as John Travolta’s teenage daughter. John plays an FBI agent intent on foiling a terrorist plot. In order to infiltrate the organisation, he undergoes a facial transplant surgery, but the criminal mastermind wakes up early and is vengeful.
The Oscar-nominated feature also starred Ghost Rider and National Treasure favourite Nicolas Cage and The Bourne Supremacy actress Joan Allen who, together with Dominique, make up the film’s leading family.
© Getty ImagesDominique recently starred in the 2025 thriller Seclusion
What’s she up to now?
Dominique hasn’t stepped away from the screen, though she keeps relatively quiet on her private life. She’s recently had roles in 2025 thriller Seclusion, which follows the psychiatrist and author Dr Madeline Faye on a retreat to her father’s beach house and her growing suspicion that an ex-patient has followed her there. According to IMDB, she has wrapped filming on a new project Immortal Combat (2026), which pits history’s greatest warriors against one another.
Details on her personal life are more vague, but she shares regular updates on her involvement with local dog shelters and adventures abroad with boyfriend Jamie Harr. She joined Cameo in 2023, providing custom videos to fans.
© Getty ImagesJohn Travolta heads up Face/Off as an FBI agent trying to foil a terrorist plot
John’s Face/Off fame
As for Dominique’s movie dad, John Travolta is best known for his roles in Grease (1978), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Saturday Night Fever (1977), all of which had him putting on his dancing shoes. Face/Off, meanwhile, played into John’s proven talent as an action hero, which he had shown off three years earlier in the Quentin Tarantino hit Pulp Fiction as Vincent Vega.
The 72-year-old actor first appeared on TV screens in 1972 on Emergency! and on Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law. He got his break into the world of fame with another famous Vinnie character on Welcome Back, Kotter. He married Kelly Preston in 1991 and the couple remained together until her death in 2020. They have three children together.
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