John Leguizamo said that while he was fond of late actor Patrick Swayze, he found it tough working with him.
The Emmy-winning actor, 63, speaking on Andy Cohen Live on SiriusXM Thursday, explained that while he personally liked Swayze – who died at 57 in September of 2009 from pancreatic cancer – he had a hard time starring alongside him on the 1995 comedy To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.
‘He was just neurotic,’ the Bogotá, Colombia-born star said. ‘I’m neurotic too, but I don’t know. He was just, it was difficult working with him.’
The story of the comedy cast Leguizamo, Swayze and Wesley Snipes as a trio of drag queens whose car breaks down during a cross-country trip.
Cohen said to Leguizamo, who played the role of Chi-Chi in the Beeban Kidron-directed motion picture, ‘AlI I hear about Patrick Swayze is just what an absolute angel he was.’
John Leguizamo, 63, said Thursday that while he was fond of late actor Patrick Swayze, he found it tough working with him on the 1995 comedy To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
Leguizamo, who has also been seen in movies including 2001’s Moulin Rouge!, 1999’s Summer of Sam, 1997’s Spawn, and 1996’s Romeo + Juliet, replied, ‘That’s different than what I experienced.’
Leguizamo said Swayze was tough to work with, adding, ‘He was just, rest in peace. I love him.’
Cohen asked Leguizamo if the working issues might have been tied to Swayze, who headlined hit films such as 1987’s Dirty Dancing and 1990’s Ghost, being a ‘perfectionist.’
Leguizamo replied, ‘I don’t know. Just neurotic. I think maybe a tiny bit insecure.’
Leguizamo said Swayze was often thrown off by his ad-libbing as cameras rolled on the film, which was encouraged by the director.
‘I’m also an improviser and he didn’t like that,’ Leguizamo said. ‘He couldn’t keep up with it and it would make him mad and upset sometimes.’
‘He’d be like, “Are you gonna say a line like that?” I’d go, “You know me – I’m gonna do me, I’m gonna just keep making up lines.” He goes, “Well, can you just say the line the way it is?” I go, “I can’t,” and the director didn’t want me to.’
Cohen suggested that the two actors ‘approached the work differently,’ to which Leguizamo said, ‘Way differently,’ noting that he had to spice up the part from how it was written in the script.
The story of the 1995 comedy cast Wesley Snipes, Leguizamo and Swayze as a trio of drag queens whose car breaks down during a cross-country trip
Leguizamo said Swayze was often thrown off by his ad-libbing as cameras rolled on the film, which was encouraged by the director
Swayze’s star exploded with the 1987 romance Dirty Dancing alongside Jennifer Grey
He solidified his spot on the A-list with his tear-jerking role in the hit 1990 romance Ghost, opposite Demi Moore
‘I invented my role,’ he said. ‘I rewrote that role. I expanded that role because that role was nothing.’
Leguizamo said he had a better rapport working with Snipes, who he would appear alongside the following year in 1996’s The Fan.
‘We vibed because, you know, we’re people of color, and you know, we got each other,’ Leguizamo said of Snipes.
Leguizamo said To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar was ‘very important’ in terms of LGBTQ+ representation during the mid-1990s.
‘It was very important because a lot of transgender kids, LGBTQ+ kids, come up to me who are now, I guess, a little older, but they said because of that and my character, they felt confident to come out to their parents,’ Leguizamo told Cohen. ‘And I felt like, wow … that’s what art’s supposed to do.
‘Art’s supposed to give people courage. Art is supposed to teach people empathy. That’s what art – that’s what I got in the business for.’
