Has Olivia really changed? - Blondie

In Xanadu, her latest film, we'll soon see a very different Olivia: sexy, brimming with energy, and utterly seductive. Her new guise has been discussed extensively in numerous newspapers and magazines. Olivia Newton-John finally grown up?, Olivia is no longer a child-woman, but a swinging showgirl!, and Olivia has discovered the emancipation of women were just a few of the headlines you could see in block letters almost everywhere.

The fact that Olivia had divorced her loyal boyfriend and manager Lee Kramer around the same time and was increasingly seen with young, trendy bachelors only added weight to the theory of her metamorphosis.

But has Olivia Newton-John really changed that much? Was she a somewhat naive child-woman in everyday life? And has she truly gained a different perspective on life?

People have always had a completely wrong impression of me!

Loyal Blondie readers from the very beginning will surely remember the big interview with Olivia, which took place a few months after her huge Grease success. Even then, she confided that the American show press, and immediately the vast majority of the public, actually had a completely wrong image of her.

At the beginning of the year, I had a few big hits in America and Japan,.... I was getting used to it a bit ..... Because I told Blondie really little, I was labelled shy, even though I am not at all.

For me, there's a huge difference between being silent because you have nothing to say and shyness! Because there was so little sensational to be found in my answers, they started to investigate my private life. Nothing was found there either, so I was given a new label: innocent, naive, childish, in short, anything but truly feminine.

Olivia Newton-John carried that image with her for no less than ten years. Meanwhile, she remains unmarried.

The fact that her boyfriend and manager, Lee Kramer, had moved in with her didn't change the opinion of most press and fans at all. The fact that she wasn't so innocent and naive any more at the end of the Grease film and appeared on the big screen in a sexy, exciting pantsuit also didn't matter.

It was clear that no one wanted to remember that last Sandy, and they preferred to identify me with the good, sissy schoolgirl from the film. I couldn't do anything about that myself.

I wasn’t ready to change, so I just accepted it as one of the downsides of our profession!

There was no point in dwelling on it for long anyway. I could better enjoy the success and try to improve my image in the future!

Of course, I’ve changed a little… but a metamorphosis? No!

Apparently, Olivia Newton-John has now achieved that with her role in Xanadu.

In Xanadu, I play the muse Kira, one of the nine daughters of Zeus. I jump out of a painting to inspire the frustrated artist Sonny Malone, played by Michael Beck, and encourage him to stick with his art.

Sonny, who makes a living as a record sleeve illustrator during the day, naturally falls in love with his beautiful, blonde muse. But he’s not alone. Gene Kelly, a former clarinetist, also falls in love with her. Kelly and Sonny decide to build a dream nightclub together, which they call Xanadu... and in which I also get the opportunity to perform.

Apparently it's the fun, flashy costumes that I get to wear in the film that are responsible for this new image of mine. Otherwise, I wouldn't know at all to thank for this sudden change of opinion among the press and the public!

Has Olivia really not changed at all?

Of course, I've changed a bit, although it's not as noticeable as people claim! I believe I've gone through a normal evolution. A great success always changes you a little. You gain self-confidence from it and start to believe more in your own abilities.

After my breakup with Lee, I've also become a lot more independent, which was actually a good thing. If you always have someone around you who solves all your worries and problems for you, you automatically become too dependent and too lax.

The funny thing is, though, everyone thinks I'm on a flirting spree now, that I want to make up for my good time with Lee and flirt like crazy. I owe this new reputation simply to the fact that I occasionally go out with a few of my friends! What did they expect of me? That I'd obediently stay home and wait for a new suitor. Was I supposed to retreat to my villa and...

Mourning the demise of my relationship? Whatever people write or say now, I don't care any more. The most important thing is that I've finally shed that childish image and am finally appreciated as a real young woman. The fact that I've now become fodder for sensational articles and gossip columns doesn't bother me. It's a form of publicity, and that's always a good thing!

I don't dare make plans for the future!

Olivia Newton-John prefers not to say too much about the future. She's also not fond of wild predictions and scheming.

I've learned in this profession to be very careful, not to dream too many dreams. I've had to wait for a little success for years. Now that it's here, I don't want to pull the wool over my eyes and think it can never leave my side. I'll just keep working with the same dedication and energy as at the beginning of my career.

Does Olivia hope to get married and one day give up her career for family life?

I do think I want to have and raise children someday. And if that means interrupting my career, then so be it. However, at this moment I don't have any prospects in that direction.

Moreover, I'm afraid that the show business doesn't really offer an ideal atmosphere for building relationships. Lee and I were very happy together for a long time. However, it was always very difficult to reconcile our private desires with the demands of my career.

We even definitively broke up once during the filming of Grease because we simply couldn't keep our personal lives separate from work any more. And that caused unbearable tension. I think it's really over for good between us now.

Lee had infinite patience, and I had tremendous faith in him. So his successor in my heart will have to be quite a gentleman! However, I don't want to worry about that. I'll see what the future holds.

In the show business, you can't look too far into the future. You're better off living day by day, making the most of the opportunities presented to you, and trying to stay balanced and "normal," even if success sometimes goes to your head!

After all, tomorrow everything could look completely different. I might be completely down again, develop an aversion to the show business, and only long for one thing: getting married and raising children. For now, I feel good about my new independence, my "new" image, and my wonderful success!