British-born actor Maxwell Caulfield is best known for starring in a pair of movies that left theaters shortly after they debuted. But he's far from bitter about discussing the quick death of "Grease 2" 40 years ago.
Maybe that's because the sequel to 1978's "Grease," which lacked stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, is coming out next week in a new 4K HD Blu-Ray release. Thanks to cable, streaming, home video and word-of-mouth, the demand for the new digital edition of the critically and commercially drubbed movie exists. Roger Ebert lamented, "The movie seems assembled off the shelf," but now, according to BBC.com, there are anniversary screenings, fan sites and capacity crowd performances in London's West End.
Last Friday, when asked about the theatrical flop's reversal of fortune, Caulfield replied through Zoom, "I certainly wasn't a late bloomer. I was pretty precocious. It's not as if I was wanting it to happen. I think I've been a little bit of a victim of bad timing because timing's everything in this life."
Caulfield found himself not only competing against fan expectations from the previous movie but from a little film with a cast of unknowns called "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" that debuted the same Memorial Day weekend.
"The timing of the release of 'Grease 2' was a little unfortunate," he says. "The opening number in the movie is 'Back to School Again' (by Motown greats The Four Tops). All the kids (in the real world) were just getting off for the summer, so why would they want to go rushing back into a high school campus, even albeit a fictional one?
"'Grease 2,' should have been released toward the end of the summer. It was a film about what a blast high school is. I have to fault Paramount for that, and they yanked the movie too quickly, but I think they had 'Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn' (an unqualified hit) in the wings, and I'm sure Tom Cruise is going to absolutely [lit up] the box office with 'Top Gun: Maverick' last weekend. That's another Paramount flick. So, sometimes they get it right," he laughed.
A New Song
Caulfield is also quick to credit the studio for taking a risk on him in the role because he'd never starred in a feature film before (he'd had gigs on TV and stage) and he was new to singing.
"It was a roll of the dice on the part of the studio. I kind of went down with the ship, at least my career did for quite a while," he recalled.
"If they had cast Rick Springfield, or their first choice ... Andy Gibb. Logically, Robert Stigwood was the producer of the movie. He managed the Bee Gees (Gibb's older brothers). Andy Gibb was the prettiest of the boys. He was the teen heartthrob. I don't know why Andy didn't get the job. Yours truly did, and I'm very grateful for it, too." Caulfield is quick to add, "We lost him tragically young (at age 30), and he was a wonderful singer."
From catching the movie for the first time in decades, it's striking that Caulfield is actually playing two distinct characters in the same body: His Michael is a book-smart English exchange student, but he tries to woo girl gang member Stephanie (Michelle Pfeiffer) by becoming a motorcycle-riding mystery man whose face is hidden by a helmet and who sounds like a Yank.
"I suppose they decided instead to go with -- instead of a singer-- an actor who could sing, and I wasn't called on to sing a great deal. They gave me a lovely ballad, and I got a very good duet with Michelle and lived out that crazy fantasy on that sort of mountain of motorcycles with all that smoke and strobe lighting and Michelle dressed as Aphrodite. It was wonderful," he said.
Off the Record
Caulfield's other box office lowlight is "Empire Records."
As with "Grease 2," fans found him and the movie later. In the movie, Caulfield relishes playing the self-absorbed pop singer Rex Manning who's at the title store signing albums and getting irritated because the attractive young women are buying the discs for their nostalgic mothers instead of themselves.
Throughout the film, the manager and employees hope that sales during Rex Manning Day can keep the independent store from becoming part of a chain. So if you're wondering why the Internet is loaded with references to Rex every April 8, now you know why.
Like "Grease 2," "Empire Records" from 1995 took a while for fans to discover it.
"We opened stone cold Westwood, in Los Angeles where I was living at the time, and I went to see it," he says. "There was no premiere. There was no ballyhoo about it, and there was nobody in the picture house on the first Friday night.
"So it's gratifying to hear that people did end up seeing it. The film is geared toward a certain age group. That age group doesn't mind because they're feeling marginalized in life anyway. They liked that sort of outlier, outcast vibe of the movie."
Today, Caulfield whines about something other than the film's grosses.
"The only thing I will always b**** about is that 'Say No More (Mon Amour)' was not on the movie soundtrack! Apart from cutting me out of any royalties that might have been going, the fact that Rex Manning Day is celebrated on an annual basis, that gives one a bit of personal gratification," he says.
Quantum of Solace
Caulfield may have been denied the chance to be associated with Gin Blossoms, Edwyn Collins, Toad the Wet Sprocket or the Cranberries, but he's in an elite club that includes Sir Sean Connery and Daniel Craig.
If you've played the 2002 game "007: Nightfire," he's the voice of James Bond.
"I had a good time with that videogame. That was fun. The irony was when they turned around and asked me if I wanted to audition for the next one." He laughed and added, "This is a wicked business."
Curiously, one of the actor's more recent projects received critical support and audience recognition immediately. In the Hulu series "Pam & Tommy" about the surprisingly profound impact of a bootlegged sex tape of drummer Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan) and "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson (Lily James). Caulfield plays porn magnate Bob Guccione, who battles with fellow smut merchant Hugh Heffner(Mike Seely) and others for the recording.
The series has an ensemble cast, but everyone makes an impression.
"I'm only in the film for literally a minute. It was a good opportunity. I think they could have done more with the role, but less is more, that's what they always say. It was nice to pop up in something that did get widely seen and was widely praised right out of the gate."