WHO

GREASE

The 40th Anniversary of the classic film.

WHO
6 Aug 2018

Lu dans le dernier WHO australien ! Article sur les 40 ans de GREASE et sur la relation amicale qui lie les 2 stars du film culte ! 

When John Travolta, 64, first met Olivia Newton-john, 69, one thing truly impressed him. Sure, the Australian singer was beautiful, talented and already a huge pop star. But Travolta, who was 23 at the time and just starting his Hollywood career, couldn’t believe her home had a swimming pool. The young Travolta, who had starred on TV’S Welcome Back, Kotter and played Doody in the Broadway version of Grease, paid a visit to Newton-john’s Los Angeles home, hoping to persuade her to play good girl Sandy opposite his bad boy Danny in the 1978 film adaptation of the high school musical. Newton-john agreed, and together they made movie history—and launched a 40-year friendship. Grease made almost $400 million worldwide and has delighted generations of fans.
Here, Newton-john and Travolta look back. “We did something life-changing, making that film,” she says. “[At the premiere] you got the feeling from the energy that something was happening. It was a huge response. I feel grateful to be a part of that and to have worked with him. We’ve stayed friends ever since.”

ON HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Travolta : They were looking desperately for a Sandy. I said, “There is only one person that should play this role, and it’s Olivia NewtonJohn. She happens to be the biggest singer in the world right now. She’s every guy’s dream. I know the play really well, and this girl is Sandy.”
Newton-john : I said to [producer] Allan Carr, “Look, I’m not American; I can’t do an American accent. I’m 29, how can I be 18? Let me do a screen test to make sure I can pull this off.” They said, “We’ll make you an Australian.” John and I did the screen test [of the drive-in scene] and it felt wonderful.

ON LIFE AT RYDELL HIGH
Newton-john : It was an amazing atmosphere, like being at a school I’d never been to. I’d gone where we wore uniforms and it was boys on one staircase, girls on the other. Grease was like reliving my teenage years. ( The only scene that wasn’t as much fun was “Hopelessly Devoted,” because everyone had left. We shot that scene at the end of the movie, with just a skeleton crew and a little plastic swimming pool. That was sad.

ON TRAVOLTA’S SOON-TO-BE SUPERSTARDOM
Travolta : I came [to the Grease set] right from the Saturday Night Fever set, where I danced my ass off for 9 or 10 months. I was like a prizefighter. I remember the heat [from the dance scene in the gym]. It didn’t bother me.
Newton-john : Almost at the end of shooting, John had a screening of Saturday Night Fever for the cast. It hadn’t come out yet, thank goodness, because I would have been so intimidated had I seen that first.

ON SANDY’S SEXY SIDE
Travolta : We knew Olivia had the sweet Sandy side to her. Who knew she had this ability to go wild?
Newton-john : I was a more conservative dresser in my own life, so to go to this other character, and put on the clothes and the makeup, was a lot of fun. The reaction I got was so striking, I thought, “What have I been doing wrong all these years?” My next album was Totally Hot, and it gave me an opportunity to ... what do you call it in Hollywood? Reinvent myself? Grease opened up a whole other world.

ON GREASE’S LEGACY
Travolta : It changed people’s lives emotionally. It inspired people to become performers. It marked people falling in love—i know it by the letters I get and the encounters I have.

ON THEIR LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP
Travolta : When you share that kind of meteoric success—and nothing has been able to exceed it—you share a bond. I’ve been through her having a child, getting divorced, losing her sister. She’s been through my getting married, having children. It’s wonderful and full of shared memories. [He’s been wed to actress Kelly Preston since 1991 and is dad to Ella Bleu, 18, and Benjamin, 7; their oldest son Jett died of a seizure in 2009, aged 16.]
Newton-john [In tough times] : John always reaches out to me. [Married to John Easterling since 2008, the mum to Chloe, 32, revealed last spring that she was battling breast cancer again after first being diagnosed in 1992.]
Travolta : Olivia’s quite a spectacular human being. She’s worthy of good friendship.

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LE DAILY MAIL

'She's every guy's dream': John Travolta recalls how he persuaded Grease producers to cast Olivia Newton-John as Sandy and speaks fondly of their 40-year 'bond'