Getty Images Sandy and Danny had a summer romance, but by the time they met again in high school, things had changed…
When Olivia Newton-John was offered the role of Sandy Olsson in Grease, not a few thought she was too old; including himself.
“I thought at 29 I was too old to play a high schooler,” the Australian actress – who died on Monday at her California ranch – told Britain’s The Telegraph in 2017, months after four years had passed the film’s release.
“But John was so charming…”
to John Travolta, who was 23 at the time Yearshe was lifted by the success of “Saturday Night Fever”. (1977) and wanted to play Danny Zucko on the tape. And he gave everything for her to take on the role.
“John was already cast and he asked me, ‘What do you think of Olivia?’ and I said, ‘She’s wonderful.’ He said, ‘What do you think of her for Sandy? That’s a great idea.’ And when John said that, and that’s what John wanted, I had no more doubts.” Thurm told People magazine.
According to Thurm, he had “nobody” as a “backup” plan in case Newton-John didn’t accept the role.
“So everyone loved Olivia, but Olvia did not accept the offer. That’s the most important thing to know.”
Getty Images’ Grease was the highest-grossing film at the box office when it was released in 1978 and continues to generate revenue from constant reruns on television and in theaters.
“She said, ‘Okay, I want to see a screen test with John and then I’ll tell you if I want to do it,'” the actress told them.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a case where an actor who was offered a role said, ‘I want to see myself before I say yes.’ But she was so smart.”
Newton-John accepted the role after seeing the test on VHS tape.
However, when he accepted the role, Newton-John was reluctant to be older than Travolta. Their “chemistry was there from the start”said Tower.
Time proved them right: Fat I don’t just know declinedthe highest grossing film of 1978but continued to rake in millions of dollars year after year and sell millions of copies of his soundtrack worldwide and A whole generation can now hum his songs, like You are the one who I want, Hopelessly surrendered either You and summer nights.
There were many who referenced the iconic nature of the film this Monday upon learning of Newton-John’s death.
“You were my childhood! Your talent, your attitude, your beauty! Rest in glorious peace. God bless you and your family… and Thank you for creating everlasting memories‘ wrote actress Viola Davis on Twitter.
Oh man!!! You were my childhood!! Your talent, your attitude, your beauty!! Rest in glorious peace. God bless your family… and thank you for creating everlasting memories. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/eaS2wmURIh
? Viola Davis (@violadavis)
August 8, 2022
The film left its mark, but on no one more than on its actors.
“We did something that changed our lives,” Newton-John admitted to People magazine in 2018.
More than a high school movie
The film is based on a musical, with libretto, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, which premiered at Chicago’s defunct Kingston Mines Theater in 1971 and made the jump to New York a year later, where it ran for eight consecutive years .
Its English title – translated “Vaseline” or “Brillantina” in some Latin American countries – is a direct allusion to the subculture of the Greasers, a working-class youth movement that emerged in the United States in the 1950s.
Getty Images Not only did Sally transform her image in Grease (pictured in a scene where she’s still sporting her most angelic looks), but so did Olivia from the film.
The work explores typically adolescent themes such as rebellion, sexual arousal, or group membership to the rhythm of a repertoire reminiscent of the early years of rock ‘n’ roll.
It topped the list of longest-running shows in Broadway history, has performed on multiple stages around the world including London’s West End, and continues to inspire non-professional groups and school troupes.
But when he became a true phenomenon, he starred in his big-screen adaptation, directed by Randal Kleiser and starring Stockard Channing in the role of Betty Rizzo alongside Newton-John and Travolta.
Its central plot revolves around Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, two high school students who unexpectedly reunite at Rydell High School after a summer romance..
Getty Images Do you remember the song that was played in this scene?
However, Danny’s attitude has changed and he is now acting arrogant. As if that wasn’t enough, Sandy Rizzo, the school’s most popular girl and leader of the Pink Ladies, doesn’t seem to particularly like her.
When OIivia reinvented herself as Sally
The plot takes a turn when Sandy goes from being a straight-up blonde with a ponytail, wearing a white blouse and wool sweaters, to a blonde sensual woman stuffed with curly hair some trousers high leather.
Getty Images The plot of “Grease” takes a turn when Sally Olsson changes her image.
And just like his character did Newton-John reinvented himself both musically and visually through the film.
The always-smiling blonde, known for her country-pop and soft ballads like Please Mr. Please, Have You Never Been Mellow and I Honestly Love You, posed in black leather for the cover of her upcoming album, Totally Hot.
And in 1981 he released the provocative song Physical as part of his self-titled album, his seventh.
“There’s nothing else to talk about / Unless it’s horizontal,” he sang in it, ending, “Let’s get animals! Animals!”.
Getty Images Olivia Newton-John dedicated “Physical” to her then-partner Matt Lattanzi (pictured in 1981).
“I took it in and immediately thought, ‘Oh my God, maybe I’ve gone too far!'” he told Entertainment Weekly in 2017, recalling his manager Roger Davies suggesting it to him.
“I called Roger and said, ‘We have to put the song down!’ But he said, ‘It’s too late. They’re already playing it on the radio and it’s going up the charts.’ I was horrified.”
Popular with audiences and critics, It was number one on the charts for 10 weeks and Billboard named it song of the yearalthough he was banned from several radio stations.
But as much as his image and the direction of his musical career changed, his friendship with Travolta remained unshakable.
Everlasting friendship
“When you share such meteoric success that is insurmountable, there remains a connection that will always remain”She recognized the actor in 2018 during one of the many celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the premiere.
“I was with her through the birth of her daughter, her divorce, when she lost her sister. And it was the same throughout my marriage, my children. Lots of memories together,” he added.
He also accompanied her during the years in which the artist was confronted with breast cancer, which was first diagnosed in 1992.
The latest relapse prevented him from attending the numerous 40th anniversary screenings, such as at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in New York or Cannes.
Where they were seen together was on December 13, 2019 in West Palm Beach, Florida where they attended a Grease-related music event.
They then sported an image that went viral: he dressed up as a high school rebel, in black and with a leather jacket, and she as the angelic version of Sandy, with a flying yellow skirt.
The actress then admitted that she hadn’t seen the film in nine years.
As she told InStyle magazine, the last time she did it was when Travolta found out her husband, businessman John Easterling, had never seen the tape and decided to organize a screening of it.
“We went to his house for dinner, and when he found out my husband hadn’t seen John Grease, he told us to have dessert on his plane,” Newton-John said. Travolta is not only an actor, but also has a pilot’s license.
“It was a surprise. And my husband got to see it with the two of us, the best way to see it.”
To honor their friendship, as soon as Travolta heard the news of the actress and singer’s death, he wrote an emotional message on Instagram:
“My dearest Olivia, you have made life so much better for all of us. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will meet you on the way and we will be together again. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever. Your Danny, your John“.
Perhaps, like many others who admired her and were influenced by Grease, she spends the day humming the song that closes Grease and says, We’ll Always Be Together.
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