‘Grease’ actors were ‘too old’ say critics — casting director fights back
nypost.comtold The Guardian in an oral history for the movie recently. “It is a non-PC fairytale that is better for the cast not being teens,” the filmmaker went on. “The only thing that was important was that the cast all looked about the same age as each other, which they did.”Star John Travolta — who played ladies’ man Danny Zuko — was 23 when he signed on for the flick.
He may be one of the youngest people in the cast, but he was still a guy in his early ’20s playing a 17-year-old.Stockard Channing, who portrayed headstrong Pink Lady Betty Rizzo, was 33 when she was hired.
The late Olivia Newton-John was 29 when she played Sandy Olsson, the film’s female lead. The supporting cast was also in their late 20s and 30s during the film.
Thurm revealed that it was Travolta, now 69, who wanted the Australian native for the role of Sandy.“Unusually for a star like Olivia, she asked for a screen test because she was a singer, not an actor, and she was unsure about being quite a bit older than John,” he told the publication.
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