15 Things You Didn't Know About Grease

You've seen it a million times, but how much do you really know about Grease? Based on a Broadway musical of the same name, Grease stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and tells the story of 1950s lovebirds Danny Zuko and Sandra Olssen who rekindle their romance at Rydell High School after a summer love affair. Okay, Danny and Sandy are probably not our favorite couple. Seriously, Danny is a huge douche to her for the majority of the film and spoiler alert, the central message here is that you can have any man you want if you just change yourself. But Grease will always be one of our favorite films regardless, simply because it's a classic. It features some of our favorite songs ever, hilarious lines that we'll never tire of repeating and characters we love, even if they seem kind of silly. Here are 15 things you probably never knew about Grease.

15 The Cast Was Way Too Old

The main bunch of characters in Grease are teenagers in their senior year of high school, but the actors and actresses playing them were much older. Olivia Newton-John, who played leading lady Sandy, was 28 when she took on the role of the high school senior, and was actually five years older than her co-star John Travolta, who was 23 at the time. Jeff Conaway, who played Danny's best bud Kenickie, was 26, and Stockard Channing, who played Rizzo was even older at 33. Jamie Donnelly, who played Pink Lady Jan, was 30, but she was already graying and at such a fast speed that her roots had to be colored with black crayon daily. In short, the whole system was a lie! We know that most movie and TV high schoolers are played by actors in their 20s, but these people are the ultimate high schoolers. Although, we can't say we couldn't tell!

14 Filming The Dance Scene Was Torture

Many people's favorite scene of the film is the tension-filled dance competition in the gym, during which a whole ton of drama ensues: Danny and Sandy just about win the competition before being broken up by the sneaky Cha Cha De Gregorio who's come as Kenickie's partner, and who also provokes a cringe-worthy alpha-male fight between Kenickie and Rizzo's date, the Leader of Scorpions, otherwise known as “Crater Face”. Sonny also spikes the punch here, Blanche sinks her claws into Tom, Marty flirts with Vince Fontaine, and the T-Birds moon the camera during Danny and Cha Cha's winner's dance. While this scene was exciting to watch, it was torture to film. The cast were on location in a real, windowless gym in the 116-degree heat. The doors were shut, and the room became so hot that more than one extra fainted, and Michael Tucci, who played Sonny, had to be taken to the E.R.

13 Olivia Newton-John Had To Be Sewn Into Her Costume

Just about every girl has dreamed of wearing the tight black pants that Sandy wears in the final scene after she's made the transition into bad girl, but as it turns out, they weren't that fun to wear. The pants were so tight that Olivia Newton-John actually had to be sewn into them! Although the "You're The One That I Want" scene only took a day to film, the cast had to return for close ups and so Olivia ended up having to wear those pants for a week. Each morning she would be sewn into them, and then at night the stitches would be cut so she could slide out of them. Reportedly, Olivia wasn't even allowed to visit the bathroom for the entire day, so she had to be super-careful about what she ate and drank for the whole week. She looked phenomenal, but that low-key sounds like our worst nightmare.

12 The Cast Played Different Roles On Broadway

The cast has gone on to do other projects since Grease, and John Travolta in particular has become something of a Hollywood legend, but nobody will ever forget most of these actors and actresses as the Grease characters they played. No matter how many years go by, Olivia Newton-John will always be Sandy, and John Travolta will always be Danny Zuko. It's almost impossible to comprehend that some of the stars appeared in the stage production of Grease before the movie, and actually played totally different roles! How weird is this: John Travolta played T-Bird Doodie, and Jeff Conaway played Danny Zuko. Poor Jeff actually got the raw end of the deal when it comes to musical numbers: "Greased Lightning" is traditionally Kenickie's song, but John Travolta demanded it be sung by Danny in the film. So Jeff ended up missing out on stage when he played Danny and on screen when he played Kenickie!

11 The Cast Could Have Been Totally Different

The cast we know wasn't always the first choice for the movie. For starters, Paramount originally wanted Henry Winkler for the role of Danny. He definitely had that '50s greaser thing down (so much so that he turned down the role for fear of being typecast), but we don't think he could have done as good a job as John! Carrie Fisher was being considered for the role of Sandy, but after seeing her in Star Wars, the director thought she wouldn't be the right fit. The role of Coach Calhoun was originally going to go to Harry Reems who starred in an adult film, before a protest kicked off that had Harry eliminated from the picture. Lucille Ball's daughter Lucie Arnaz was also considered for the role of Rizzo, but it's been said that Lucy herself ruined this by phoning the studio and blasting them over the fact that her daughter even had to audition.

10 There Were So Many Adult References

Grease isn't what you'd call an adult movie, but there sure are a lot of secret adult references in it. If you listen to the lyrics of "Greased Lightning", they're clearly about a car that's going to be used as a place to do a certain deed and filled with implications that children thankfully, would have no idea about. As kids watching the movie, we couldn't for the life of us work out why John Travolta was rubbing plastic wrap on himself during the song! The scene at the drive-in is also kind of inappropriate, seeing as Danny's big solo ends with footage of a cartoon hot dog jumping into a bun. The director also went to a lot of effort to secure this scene as the backdrop! And we also had no idea what Marty was really saying when she said she caught Vince Fontaine slipping an aspirin into her Coke at the dance.

9 Everybody Wanted Olivia Newton-John, Except ONJ

Allan Carr knew Olivia Newton-John was perfect for the role of Sandy when he first saw her, and the rest of the team were soon convinced. John Travolta was a huge fan of hers, and was thrilled at the opportunity to get to work with her, seeing as he was basically unknown at the time. Jeff Conaway also had a huge crush on her while filming, blushing whenever he did a scene with her. He even ended up marrying her sister! However, Olivia herself was not convinced that she'd make the best Sandra Olssen. Her main concern was that at 26, she wouldn't be able to play a high schooler, and she wouldn't have any on-screen chemistry with John Travolta, who was a bit younger than her. So she actually requested a screen test before committing to the film. You know how the rest goes though-she totally nailed it!

8 The Music Could Have Been Different

The music from Grease is iconic, but a few of the songs that we love weren't even originally going to be included in the film. We know-what a terrifying thought! The opening theme song "Grease" was going to be scrapped as the director didn't believe the lyrics matched the tone of the movie, but thankfully he decided to leave it in. We personally believe that the whole movie would be totally different without that opening theme song and animation! John Travolta's solo song "Sandy" was also a last-minute addition, and it happens to be one of our favorites. "You're The One that I Want" was also going to be left out, and this is confusing because would there even be an ending without it? Finally, "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was actually done after filming wrapped because Sandy needed her own ballad, and ended up scoring the film an Oscar nomination.

7 The Drag Scene Was Dangerous

The drag-racing scene near the end of the film was actually really dangerous to film, and not for the reason you'd think! There were no issues with car crashes or anything like that, but there was a health hazard on set. The water running through the underpass was actually stagnant and contaminated, and as a result, quite a few cast members ended up sick after coming into contact with it. That's a pretty big occupational health and safety issue, and we're surprised the filmmakers weren't sued! Annette Charles, who played Cha Cha, was actually in the hospital prior to filming that scene, but checked herself out just to be there (thankfully, because the scene wouldn't have been the same without her waving her yellow neck scarf). Then after her part was complete, she checked herself back into hospital and had surgery that night for ectopic pregnancy. What a trooper! Suddenly we don't hate Cha Cha as much.

6 Sandy Wasn't Supposed To Be Australian

The original Sandy from the musical was actually a little different to Olivia's version. Firstly, she was an American girl whose last name was Dumbrowski. However, once Olivia was cast, her backstory was played with a little to allow Olivia to keep her native Australian accent. So Sandy Dumbrowski became Sandy Olssen who'd just moved to the USA from Sydney, Australia. Oliva Newton-John was so popular at the time that the filmmakers obviously thought changing a character was preferable to hiring somebody else! We must admit though, they didn't put much thought into explaining Sandy's move. When Danny asks what she's doing here, exclaiming, “I thought you were going back to Australia!” she just responds with, “We had a change of plans!” Um, is that a substantial enough reason for a family to totally shift to another country just as their daughter is about to begin the most important year of her schooling? Dubious.

5 It Was Even More Successful Than You Thought

Okay, we all know that Grease is one of the most successful and iconic movies ever-would we be writing this list nearly 40 years later if it weren't? But even we were surprised to hear the extent of its success! The film was nominated for a plethora of awards, including no less than five golden Globes and one Academy Award. It won two People's Choice Awards and a Golden Screen Award, in addition to accumulating mass profits at the box office and great reviews from many critics. It ended up being the highest grossing film of 1978, and remained one of the highest grossing of all time, after Jaws and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The funny thing is, the cast had no idea how big it was going to be during filming. “There wasn't a lot of interference because the studio thought this was just a routine musical,” explained the director.

4 "Greased Lightning" Changed Jeff Conaway's Life

We've already talked about how Jeff Conaway kind of missed out on his time to shine in "Greased Lightning", but the song ended up being total trouble for him anyway. During the filming of the song, he was accidentally dropped by his fellow cast members. This led to him seriously hurting his back, and turning to prescription painkillers. Unfortunately, this incident marked the beginning of Jeff's battle with addiction to prescription medication and a related downward spiral. He kept quiet about his struggles for many years following the film, but his secret was revealed to the world when he appeared on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, during which he opened up about his problem with prescription drugs. Sadly, Jeff was never able to fully recover from his addiction, and ended up fatally overdosing at the age of 60. Fans will always remember him as a kind man and talented actor!

3 The Song "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee" Is Creepy

While the Pink Ladies are having their slumber party at Frenchie's house, Rizzo sings "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" to make fun of Sandy. In the film version of the song, Rizzo sings the lyrics, “Elvis, Elvis, let me be! Keep that pelvis far from me,” as she looks at a picture of Elvis hanging on the wall. On that day, August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley was pronounced dead. Director Randal Kleiser told The New York Post that the when the cast found out about The King's death, they came down with a major case of the creeps. “It was very eerie. It was all over the news so everyone knew. We did this number, and everybody kind of looked at each other like, 'Yeah, this is creepy.'” Even more strangely, Elvis was offered a role in the film, but turned it down. He was meant to play Frenchie's Teen Angel!

2 Rizzo's Hickeys Were Real

We're unsure how we feel about this one! Out of the Pink Ladies, Rizzo is clearly the bad girl. She does things good 1950s girls don't do, including sneaking off with leather-jacketed boys, and this is shown through the hickeys that appear on her neck. At one point, Rizzo even says, “I got so many hickeys people'll think I'm a leper.” Kenickie tells her to chill out, assuring her that “a hickey from Kenickie is like a Hallmark card, when you care enough to send the very best.” But it turns out that he was being 100% serious-Jeff Conaway actually gave the hickeys to Stockard Channing. In interviews with the actress, she stated that he insisted on giving her real hickeys so the whole thing would be more authentic. Geez, that's one way to put it! We would have thought that makeup would have sufficed, but whatever floats your boat.

1 Some People Believe The Film Never Happened

While we're pretty sure that Grease did actually happen, some fans speculate that the whole film is just a figment of Sandy's imagination as she hallucinates while she drowns at the beach. In the beginning, Sandy and Danny are splashing around at the beach, and some fans think that Sandy actually loses her life in the process. The following events, including going to Rydell High, are just pictures that pass through her head as she dies. These fans believe that their theory is backed up by the final scene in which Danny and Sandy fly up to the clouds in their car and Sandy waves goodbye to the camera. We could see how this would symbolize Sandy ascending to heaven, but we just aren't buying it. For one thing, what about all the scenes that don't include Sandy? We think she definitely did go to Rydell and lived happily ever after with Danny!