By Mallory Mattingly
Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer honored their recent marriages and kept things platonic when they played love interests in the 1982 film GREASE 2.
“We did not have the kind of relationship that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John did [in the original film],” Caulfield told Fox News Digital. “They were so symbiotic, they absolutely loved each other. Michelle and I only had to play being in love. And we both just got married. So, there was no question about any [lines] being crossed in that regard.”
“Michelle is a bit of a sphinx,” he laughed. “She’s always retained a certain mystery.”
Though their relationship never crossed any boundaries, they connected over the possibility of international fame.
“I think we were both apprehensive about imminent stardom,” Caulfield revealed. “We would sometimes talk about how one would handle it, because it’s a very real thing to suddenly become world famous. It suddenly means, like everything in life, there’s a price to pay.”
But when GREASE 2 failed at the box office, Caulfield “went down with the ship.”
Pfeiffer, however, “rose like a fabulous phoenix” and went on to co-star with Al Pacino in the hit film SCARFACE.
Caulfield struggled to find his way in the entertainment industry.
“I did hope to be embraced by a movie-going audience,” he shared. “I did aspire to represent a certain mantle of cool that movie stardom bestows upon you…There’s just something about achieving that kind of tremendous success…always say to young actors, ‘Be very careful about the first role you do, because that’s the role you’re going to be asked to play very often, a variation of that for many years of your career.’”
One thing is for certain: Caulfield would love to get a chance to star next to Pfeiffer again.
“I hope one day to work with her again,” he said. “She’s a wonderfully generous actress…And look, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, these guys are practically contemporaries of mine, and they still look like a million bucks, but they are genuine movie stars… They’ve also held on to their hair. To lose it is the cardinal sin in Hollywood.”
Caulfield’s commitment to his marriage has endured, and he and his wife Juliet Mills, sister to PARENT TRAP star Hayley Mills, have enjoyed 45 years of marriage.
“We’ve never gone to bed upset with each other,” he shared. “I’m absolutely blessed…There’s a certain level of adoration that precludes, frankly, any tendency that one might face to stray. That famous Paul Newman quote about his wife Joanne Woodward – why would I go out for a hamburger when I got filet mignon at home? It’s legit. The chemistry has lasted all these years…And it’s been quite an adventure.”
A few years ago, Paramount+ attempted to bring back the GREASE world with GREASE: RISE OF THE PINK LADIES. Though the streamer eventually decided to cancel the series after it failed to gain traction, Caulfield was happy to return for its red carpet.
While fidelity in marriage is rare in Hollywood, it’s incredible to see how Caulfield and Pfeiffer honored their spouses.
Read Next: Grammy Award-Winning Singer and Actress Olivia Newton-John Dies at 73
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +4Share:
– Content: +2