Olivia Newton-John dies: how she ended up playing a high school teenager at 29 in “Grease” (and why this film is so iconic)

When Olivia Newton-John was offered to play Sandy Olsson in grease, there were not a few who thought that he was too old for that; including herself.

“I thought that at 29 I was too old to play a high school student,” the Australian actress, who died Monday at her California ranch, told the British newspaper. The Telegraph in 2017, months after four decades of the film’s premiere.

“But John was so charming…”

to john Travolta, who was then 23 yearshe was elevated by the success of “Saturday Night Fever” (1977) and was going to play Danny Zucko on the tape. And he gave everything for her to accept 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 once John said that, and that’s what John wanted, I had no doubts.” explained Joel Thurm, casting director of greaseto People magazine.

According to Thurm, he had “no one” as a “backup” plan if Newton-John did not accept the role.

“So everyone loved Olivia, but Olvia did not accept the offer. That’s the important thing to know.”

“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 part said, ‘I want to see myself before I say yes.’ But that’s how smart she was.”

Newton-John accepted the role after seeing the test on VHS tape.

Once he accepted the role, Newton-John was hesitant to be older than Travolta, however, their “chemistry was there from the start”Thurm said.

Time proved them right: grease I don’t only know went backthe highest grossing film of 1978but continued to gross millions of dollars year after year, selling millions of copies of its soundtrack worldwide and a whole generation can now hum his songs, as You’re The One That I Want, Hopelessly Devoted either You and Summer Nights.

There were many who this Monday, upon learning of Newton-John’s death, made reference to the iconic nature of the film.

“You were my childhood! Your talent, poise, beauty! Rest in glorious peace. God bless you and your family…and thank you for creating everlasting memories“, Wrote for example the also actress Viola Davis on Twitter.

oh man!!! You were my childhood!! Your talent, poise, beauty!! Rest in glorious peace. God bless your family….and thank you for creating eternal memories. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/eaS2wmURIh

? Viola Davis (@violadavis)
August 8, 2022

The film left its mark, but on no one more than its actors.

“We did something that changed our lives,” Newton-John acknowledged to the magazine People in 2018.

More than a high school movie

The film was based on a musical with libretto, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey that debuted in 1971 at the defunct Kingston Mines theater in Chicago and a year later made the leap to New York, where it was performed for eight consecutive years.

Its title in English —translated as “Vaselina” or “Brillantina” in some Latin American countries— is a direct allusion to the subculture of greasersa working-class youth movement that emerged in the United States in the 1950s.

The work explored typically adolescent themes such as rebellion, sexual arousal, or group membership to the rhythm of a repertoire reminiscent of the early years of the Rock And Roll.

It topped the list of longest-running shows in Broadway history, performed on multiple stages around the world, including London’s West End, and continues to inspire non-professional groups and school troupes.

But when it became a true phenomenon it was with its adaptation to the big screen, directed by Randal Kleiser and starring, in addition to Newton-John and Travolta, Stockard Channing in the role of Betty Rizzo.

Its central plot revolves around Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, two high school students who, after enjoying a summer romance, unexpectedly meet again at Rydell High School..

However, Danny’s attitude has changed and he now behaves in an arrogant manner. As if that weren’t enough, Rizzo, the most popular girl in school and leader of the Pink Ladies, doesn’t seem to like Sandy too much.

When OIivia reinvented herself as Sally

The plot takes a twist when Sandy transforms from a candid blonde with a ponytail, white blouse and wool sweaters to a sensual woman with curly hair stuffed in some pants high rise leather.

And, in the same way that his character did, Newton-John reinvented himself both musically and visually from the film.

The ever-smiling blonde, known for her country-pop and soft ballads like Please Mr. Please, Have You Never Been Mellow Y I Honestly Love Youposed dressed in black leather for the cover of her next album, totally hot.

And in 1981 he released the provocative song Physical as part of the self-titled album, his seventh.

“There’s nothing else to talk about / Unless it’s horizontally,” he sang in it, and ended: “Let’s get animals! Animals!”.

“I recorded it and immediately thought, ‘Oh my God, maybe I’ve gone too far!'” she told the show. Entertainment Weekly in 2017, after recalling how his manager Roger Davies had suggested it to him.

“I called Roger and said, ‘We have to take 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.”

Favored by audiences and critics, it was number one on the charts for 10 weeks and Billboard named it song of the yeardespite being banned from several radio stations.

But as much as his image and the direction of his musical career changed, what remained unshaken was his friendship with Travolta.

Eternal friendship

“When you share a success as meteoric as that, impossible to overcome, there is a bond that always remains”recognized the actor in 2018, during one of the multiple celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the premiere.

“I have been by her side during the birth of her daughter, her divorce, when she lost her sister. And she was the same, during my marriage, my children. A lot of shared memories,” he added.

He continued to accompany her during the years in which the artist faced breast cancer, which was diagnosed for the first time in 1992.

The last relapse prevented him from attending the numerous screenings to celebrate the 40th anniversary, such as those held 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 participated in a musical event related to grease.

They then wore an image that went around the world: he dressed 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 confessed that she had not seen the film for nine years.

As he told the magazine InStylethe last time he did it was when Travolta found out that her husband, businessman John Easterling, had never seen the tape and decided to organize a screening of it.

“We had gone to his house for dinner and when he found out that my husband John had not seen greasetold us to have dessert on his plane,” said Newton-John. Travolta, in addition to being an actor, has a license to fly.

“It was a surprise. And my husband got to see it with the two of us, the best way to see it.”

Honoring their friendship, as soon as he heard the news of the death of the actress and singer, Travolta wrote an emotional message on Instagram:

“My dearest Olivia, you 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 marked by greasespend the day humming the song that closes grease and says: We’ll Always B.and Together.

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Tags:

• Olivia Newton-John
• Sandy Olson
• grease
• John Travolta
• Danny Zucko
• cinema
• Hollywood