THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 26, 1995 TAG: 9510260068
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
PATRICK SWAYZE is over dirty dancing. In fact, he's not inclined to dance to Hollywood's tune at all.
``To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' is continuing as a surprise hit, but he's giving up the high heels and gowns for tight jeans and a bare chest in ``Three Wishes,'' a romantic fantasy opening Friday.
If playing a woman was a risk, ``Three Wishes'' is no less a challenge. Swayze's a bum who just might be an angel. He comes into a widow's life and changes her outlook. But is he from another world? The quirky nature of the story keeps it from becoming just another romantic fantasy.
``I'm having a great time messin' up my career,'' Swayze said with a laugh as he bounded into the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. ``From the beginning, I was never interested in the hit machine. I don't think you can really predict what audiences will like, anyway. I've found, though, that if you give them something they need, they'll turn out.
``That worked with `Ghost,' which was also something of a fantasy, and one that a lot of people didn't think would work at the box office. I think `Three Wishes' has the qualities to stir people's hearts, but it's certainly not a sure thing.''
Swayze, who lives on a ranch outside Los Angeles with his wife, Lisa Niemi, still talks with the good ol' boy naturalness that betrays his Houston background.
After hitting the big time as Johnny Castle in the 1987 box-office smash ``Dirty Dancing,'' he's had a spotty career. ``Ghost'' was the biggest hit of 1990, but there have also been flops - the macho ``Road House,'' ``Next of Kin'' and ``Point Break,'' as well as the epic effort, ``City of Joy.''
He pushed to get the role of Miss Vida, the elegant and somewhat serious drag queen in ``To Wong Foo.'' As a result, he got the best reviews of his career.
At first, Swayze said, ``they wouldn't even see me for that role. I guess they figured Patrick's terminally macho. It was a challenge. They hired a drag-queen guru to teach me everything but, I mean, it isn't just a matter of putting on the clothes. I was determined that Miss Vida would be 100 percent real. I didn't want her to be a caricature. That took some focusing.
``It doesn't matter what your sexual preference is. All that matters is what you give back to the world. I'm so proud that enough (people) went to see this movie. It shows something to me, and that's, partially, that people have open minds and open hearts.''
Growing up in Houston, Swayze excelled in gymnastics, diving, track and football. He also took dance classes from his mother, who ran her own school and choreographed movies like ``Urban Cowboy.''
Swayze was offered college athletic scholarships, but he began acting at Houston's prestigious Alley Theater in high school.
``Some of the rednecks had no idea what I was trying to do. They had their own narrow agenda and they thought the rest of the world was supposed to stick to it,'' he said. ``All I can say to anyone is that if you hang back to fit someone else's agenda, then you're never going to have your own goals, much less reach them.''
After attending San Jacinto College in Houston, Swayze toured as a dancer in ``Disney on Parade.'' He made the big move to New York to study with the Harkness and Joffrey ballet companies. On Broadway, he landed a role in the chorus of ``Goodtime Charley,'' then came the lead of Danny Zuko in ``Grease.'' Everyone pushed him to try Hollywood.
Swayze played a soldier dying of leukemia in a memorable episode of ``M*A*S*H'' and was a big hit in the miniseries, ``North and South.'' ``Skatetown, U.S.A.'' was his movie debut. Then came ``Dirty Dancing.''
The flops began with formula action films rather than riskier roles.
``I want to be an actor, not an icon,'' he said. ``Those action movies are considered sure bets, but not for everyone. To me, they're pretty lifeless parts. Some people, like Wesley (Snipes, his ``To Wong Foo'' co-star), can do them well, and I think I could do one once in a while. But I need something with a heart.''
Such a role is Jack McCloud in ``Three Wishes.'' He steps into the life of a small-town family when Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who plays the widow, hits him with her car as she swerves to avoid hitting his dog. She invites him to stay in her home until his broken leg mends. He, in turn, teaches her sons about life - even how to use Zen to win in baseball.
``It's a love story without sex,'' Swayze said ``and that scares the hell out of some people. The script has changed since its early origins. I didn't want to play this Zen guy. I didn't want to be this mystic guy who might be an angel. I wanted him to be screwed up.''
Since he's the star, he got his way. ``Three Wishes,'' directed by Martha Coolidge, came down to earth.
``Martha is a real performance director,'' Swayze said. ``She's interested in the actors and how they get to their character. The most difficult scene is one in which I had to do the Zen thing - chanting with the boys on the baseball field. I thought it just wasn't in me to do that scene, that I might look silly. It's when you're worried about looking silly that you fail. You have to get outside that. She helped me.''
He also took ``Three Wishes'' ``because it comes at a time in my life when a lot of really heavy, intense stuff is coming down.''
His wife, Lisa, lost their baby in a miscarriage. ``We're going to try again, but time may be running out for us. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.''
Swayze also was torn by the fact that the character has a dog who is his best friend.
``My best friend, Cody, my dog, died last year,'' he said. ``That dog was my bodyguard, my friend, everything. I buried him on a hill above our ranchhouse and, I'm sorry, but I just spent a lot of time sitting at his graveside. I didn't want to give him up. I just thought, `I'll never love anything as much as Cody again.'
``Then our French poodle come up to sit beside me and this little poodle took on the stance of a protector, as if to let me know he was the dog of the family now and he was going to take over. It was a reminder to me that life goes on and that other beings are there to help.
``I'm particularly into the world of animals. They're direct. They're without pretense. My Arabian stallion simply won't tolerate anyone who is not focused. He'll get you off his back unless you're 100 percent accounted for.''
Look for Patrick Swayze to bring that same kind of focus to his career. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Universal Swayze, right, John Leguizamo, left,
and Wesley Snipes as drag queens in "To Wong Foo."
KEYWORDS: PROFILE INTERVIEW by CNB