{"id":94779,"date":"2025-08-25T02:06:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/94779\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T02:06:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:06:07","slug":"grease-2-star-explains-why-he-didnt-fall-for-michelle-pfeiffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/94779\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Grease 2\u2019 star explains why he didn’t fall for Michelle Pfeiffer"},"content":{"rendered":"

When \u201cva-va-voom\u201d Michelle Pfeiffer<\/a> walked onto the set of \u201cGrease 2,\u201d Maxwell Caulfield knew he wouldn\u2019t be tempted by the sultry starlet.<\/p>\n

The actor, who starred as motorcycle-riding Michael Carrington, is gearing up to honor his wife, Juliet Mills, at this year\u2019s\u00a0Cinecon<\/a>\u00a0in Hollywood during Labor Day weekend. Looking back at his career, the 65-year-old told Fox News Digital it was easy to play Pfeiffer\u2019s love interest in the 1982 film.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not have the kind of relationship that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John did [in the original film],\u201d he explained. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMichelle is a bit of a sphinx,\u201d he chuckled. \u201cShe\u2019s always retained a certain mystery.\u201d<\/p>\n

While their relationship on set was strictly platonic, Caulfield said they did bond over the possibility of skyrocketing to international fame \u2013 just as Travolta and Newton-John<\/a> did in 1978.<\/p>\n

Maxwell Caulfield opened up about his dynamic with Michelle Pfeiffer while filming \u201cGrease 2.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n

Caulfield said they bonded over the possibility of skyrocketing to international fame, but were strictly platonic. Paramount\/Kobal \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we were both apprehensive about imminent stardom,\u201d he said. \u201cWe would sometimes talk about how one would handle it, because it\u2019s a very real thing to suddenly become world famous. It suddenly means, like everything in life, there\u2019s a price to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Caulfield had good reason to think about the possibility of becoming a household name. While teen idols Rick Springfield and Leif Garrett were considered, it was Caulfield who scored the role. And according to reports, even Tom Cruise auditioned at one point.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not have the kind of relationship that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John did [in the original film],\u201d Caulfield said. <\/p>\n

But fate had different plans for Caulfield.<\/p>\n

When \u201cGrease 2\u201d premiered in theaters,\u00a0it attempted to go toe-to-toe against heavyweights like \u201cE.T.,\u201d \u201cRocky III\u201d and \u201cPoltergeist.\u201d And tunes like \u201cBack to School Again\u201d didn\u2019t resonate with audiences in June. After it was dismissed by critics, \u201cGrease 2\u201d was knocked out cold at the box office.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Pfeiffer went on to star in\u00a0another film, \u201cScarface<\/a>,\u201d opposite Al Pacino.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichelle is a bit of a sphinx,\u201d the actor said. \u201cShe\u2019s always retained a certain mystery.\u201d Paramount\/Kobal \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

After being dismissed by critics, \u201cGrease 2\u201d flopped at the box office. The Legacy Collection\/THA \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caulfield in \u201cGrease 2.\u201d Paramount\/Kobal \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the film\u2026 didn\u2019t take off, I went down with the ship,\u201d said Caulfield. \u201cBut she rose like a fabulous phoenix.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caulfield admitted it wasn\u2019t easy to watch Pfeiffer soar to fame as he struggled to find his way in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI did hope to be embraced by a movie-going audience,\u201d he said. \u201cI did aspire to represent a certain mantle of cool that movie stardom bestows upon you\u2026 There\u2019s just something about achieving that kind of tremendous success\u2026 I always say to young actors, \u2018Be very careful about the first role you do, because that\u2019s the role you\u2019re going to be asked to play very often, a variation of that for many years of your career.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, there are no hard feelings toward Pfeiffer, Caulfield insisted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope one day to work with her again,\u201d he beamed. \u201cShe\u2019s a wonderfully generous actress\u2026 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\u2026 They\u2019ve also held on to their hair. To lose it is the cardinal sin in Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope one day to work with her again,\u201d Caulfield said. \u201cShe\u2019s a wonderfully generous actress.\u201d Adam Scull \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

While Caulfield immersed himself in the theater, he went on to star in\u00a0\u201cThe Colbys,\u201d a \u201cDynasty\u201d spinoff. The series ran from 1986 to 1987. But it wouldn\u2019t be until decades later that Caulfield scored an iconic role.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Empire Records<\/a>?\u2019 Never heard of it,\u201d he joked. \u201c\u2019Empire Records\u2019 is an extraordinary thing. It\u2019s up there with \u2018Grease 2\u2019 in terms of a movie that literally nobody went to see on the opening weekend, but thanks to you, kids, you revived it from the graveyard of cinematic bombs and elevated it to genuine cult status. And I did get to play a strutting peacock in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 1995 film about an independent record store, Caulfield plays Rex Manning, a washed-up \u201980s heartthrob. The film earned just more than $300,000 at the box office after a limited release. However, it has become a cult hit over the years. And every April 8, a key date in the movie, fans celebrate\u00a0\u201cRex Manning Day\u201d on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both just got married,\u201d Caulfield said, referring to his marriage to Juliet Mills, when explaining why he and Pfeiffer never pursued each other. \u201cSo, there was no question about any [lines] being crossed in that regard.\u201d Nate Cutler \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chemistry has lasted all these years\u2026 And it\u2019s been quite an adventure,\u201d Caulfield said about his marriage. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe joke\u2019s on Rex Manning, a lot, but it was a fun experience making \u2018Empire Records,\u2019\u201d said Caulfield.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cAnd I\u2019ve got to tell you that the scene that doesn\u2019t get nearly enough airplay [is]\u2026 Rex Manning\u2019s crazy, deranged male fantasy video on the sand with all those girls in black lingerie, a four-poster bed, a wind machine and Cuban heels. It\u2019s not easy to walk up a sand dune\u00a0in Cuban heels. But I enjoyed doing that very much and recording the song.\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, Caulfield is busy performing in the play \u201cThe Lost Gospel of Pontius Pilate.\u201d The stage is one of his greatest loves. The other is his wife, the daughter of actor Sir John Mills and Disney icon Hayley Mills. They\u2019ve been married since 1980.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe took\u00a0a real chance of marrying me\u00a0when she did,\u201d said Caulfield. \u201cShe was the one who had a career and a lofty reputation. I was the upstart New York actor full of ambition, but madly in love with her. And obviously, there was an age difference. Juliet was far more worldly than me, and she was, especially in those early years, very patient with me\u2026 \u00a0She took the plunge. She\u2019s always had a bit of a rebel spirit. And it seemed to have paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never gone to bed upset with each other,\u201d he shared. \u201cI\u2019m absolutely blessed\u2026 There\u2019s 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 \u2013 why would I go out for a hamburger when I got filet mignon at home? It\u2019s legit. The chemistry has lasted all these years\u2026 And it\u2019s been quite an adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When \u201cva-va-voom\u201d Michelle Pfeiffer walked onto the set of \u201cGrease 2,\u201d Maxwell Caulfield knew he wouldn\u2019t be tempted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[12374,49,48,361,75,1554,46524,28536,55387],"class_list":["post-94779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-actors","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-film","tag-grease","tag-michelle-pfeiffer","tag-sequels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}