Two of a Kind
By John Hiscock
When Olivia Newton-John opened Koala Blue, her new shop on L.A.’s trendy Melrose Avenue, this fall, she got physical.
She “christened” the Australian boutique-featuring clothing, books, jewelry, artwork and foods imported from her homeland-by smashing a bottle of Vegemite, the vegetable extract beloved by Aussies, against the wall. It was obvious that the sweet-voiced singer who won seven platinum albums, eight gold singles, three Grammys, legions of fans and some critical pans with her wistfully romantic repertoire had changed her tune.
Now 35, with a new movie, a new chart-topping single, a new business and a younger beau, the new Newton-John has thoroughly shattered her squeaky-clean image. Ditching demure minidresses for revealing exercise attire and abandoning pop pap like “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “I Honestly Love You” for a desire to be “Physical,” the performer has become more siren than simp.
“I’m just more confident now,” she says, exuding an air of self-assurance that belies the shy, even helpless persona of her early career (which began with her first hit, “If Not for You,” in 1971). “I was always afraid to try new things before, but I’ve gone through a lot of changes in the past five years.
“The girl-next-door label, the idea that I was too nice, too clean, was a compliment used as abuse,” she adds. “It seemed like you had to be drunk or on drugs to be interesting, so people didn’t find much to talk about when it came to me.”
People are talking now about Two of a Kind, the romantic comedy-drama that reunites Newton-John with John Travolta, her leading man in the 1978 blockbuster Grease, the highest-grossing movie musical of all time.
In Two of a Kind, she plays an out-of-work actress and Travolta portrays an inventor. It’s her first straight, non-musical role, and one that she hopes won’t prove prophetic after her last film, 1980’s Xanadu, which was a critical and commercial flop. In Two, she sings four songs including a duet with Travolta, and “Twist of Fate,” her new single.
The film ends with a heavy love scene between a bare-chested Travolta and a seemingly uninhibited Olivia, something she says she “couldn’t have done with anyone except John.”
The two worked out together each day before rehearsals, performing strenuous dance routines and lifting weights. While the actor acknowledged to a magazine reporter that his co-star is “sweet and lovely,” he maintained that she “definitely has a hot streak.”
“John and I have wanted to work together again ever since Grease,” says Newton-John. “We read dozens of scripts, but didn’t find anything we really liked. When John read this one, he told me, ‘If you don’t do it, I’ll quit looking for a picture for us’. I read it and liked it, so we did it.”
People are also talking about the singer’s four-year romance with dancer-actor Matt Lattanzi, 24, whom she met on the Xanadu set.
He shares a Malibu, Calif., ranch with Newton-John and her “zoo”-four cats, nine dogs and five horses-eschewing the traditional fast-lane life of show business for romantic dinners a deuxх. “Matt is unspoiled, nice and genuine,” says Newton-John, who credits him with “loosening up my inhibitions and really changing me.
We enjoy the same things, preferring the quiet of home and the beach to the commotion of Hollywood.
“It’s not that I’m hiding, but it’s better for a relationship to develop in private. Publicity has killed more than one romance, and I don’t want it to kill mine.”
With her romance obviously thriving, Newton-John, admits she’s becoming increasingly family-minded.
“I go through times when I think having kids would be wonderful,” she says, “but other times the idea worries me because of the way the world is. Still, each year I find myself thinking about children more.”
For his part, Lattanzi, a self-described “wilderness person,” says he’s helped to dispel Newton-John’s “white-bread image” and “brought out the female animal in her.”
Despite a seemingly idyllic home life, the singer hasn’t been completely mellow. She’s been a target for cranks sending obsessive love letters, like the ones Jodie Foster received from John Hinckley, and for deranged fans who’ve stalked her at her ranch.
Last year, a mental patient from Canada was arrested outside Newton-John’s gates, claiming he wanted “to marry Olivia to God.” Just months later, Michael Perry, an alleged murderer, was turned away from her home five times.
Terrified, Newton-John fled home to Australia until Perry was captured. While police have since discontinued guarding her home, she maintains a private security force for protection. “Unfortunately, it is necessary,” she sighs. “Most fans are well-meaning, but there’s that weird element that may do harm.”
Nevertheless, with an appealingly aggressive new image, an album in the works and Lattanzi to keep her physical, Newton-John is happy.
“Now I’m doing what I like to do,” she says. “I’ve got the confidence to be more adventurous. I guess you only do things when you’re ready for them.”