Olivia returns to screen in Christmas film
LOS ANGELES – It took a story about a young girl’s Christmas wish for a new mother to get Olivia Newton-John to return to acting after a seven-year absence. A Mom For Christmas, an NBC holiday fantasy, is the singer’s first movie for television and her first dramatic appearance since the 1983 theatrical release Two of a Kind.
Ms. Newton-John plays a department store mannequin who comes to life to fulfil the 11-year-old girl’s wish after the death of her natural mother. Juliet Sorcey is the child, and Doug Sheehan plays her father.
“The little girl makes the wish at the department store’s wishing well,” Ms. Newton-John says. “I overhear it and turn up at her house. I’m there for the position of nanny and bamboozle my way in. The little girl knows I’m the mannequin, but the father doesn’t. He thinks I’m a dingbat.”
It all began several months ago when Ms. Newton-John was approached by two networks about doing a series.
“I met with people from NBC, and we talked about what I’d like to do,” she says, explaining that she didn’t want to be tied to a series. “A month later, the script arrived. Production was starting in Cincinnati in two weeks, and I had to make up my mind in a hurry. I’d gotten scripts before, but I was busy with my life and my child. I had to cancel a lot of stuff for this.”
“It appealed to me because it’s about Christmas and a mom. My confidence to do it came because I’d done the Big Green environmental concert and another charity concert. I’d thought I’d never do a concert again. I didn’t miss it. My life was full. But once I did (the concerts), I found I enjoyed it. I think that helped build me up to accepting the movie.”
During the past seven years, Ms. Newton-John, who was born in England and raised in Australia, has spent most of the time on her albums, a chain of Australian-themed clothing boutiques, environmental causes and raising her daughter.
Two of a Kind was a bomb. It also slowed the movie career of co-star John Travolta until last year’s Look Who’s Talking. “I don’t remember what it was about,” Ms. Newton-John says. “It was a nice premise that didn’t work out. You go into a film believing it’s going to be a good thing. You really can’t tell until all the pieces fall together.”
Her previous movie, Xanadu, also was a flop, although it did produce some hit music. Both films were fantasies in which Ms. Newton-John played supernatural beings - strangely enough, not unlike her television role.
The performer’s transition from popular singer to movie star started spectacularly in Grease, which co-starred Mr. Travolta. The 1978 smash remains one of the most successful movie musicals ever.
It was during Xanadu that Ms. Newton-John met her husband, actor Matt Lattanzi, who performed in some of the dance scenes with her. Their daughter, Chloe, will be 5 in January.
A Mom For Christmas was filmed in Cincinnati after a search in 15 cities for a department store with the right period look. It was adapted by Gerald DiPego from the children’s book A Mom By Magic by Barbara Dillon. Australian George Miller (The Man From Snowy River) directed.
“It had to have an old-fashioned style,” Ms. Newton-John says. “It couldn’t be in a mall. And we had to have permission to shoot during the day. We closed off part of the store. It was beautiful when we got to Cincinnati. The trees were awash in color.”
Ms. Newton-John says she might be interested in doing a television series after her daughter begins school next year. She also is considering an anniversary album in 1991 to celebrate 21 years as a recording artist.
Koala Blue, the boutique she co-founded in 1984 as an “Aussie hangout,” has now expanded to 55 stores in this country, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and France. It features its own line of fashions.
Ms. Newton-John also keeps busy as the first goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program, and plans to attend the 1992 environmental conference in Brazil. “Celebrities have access to the media and can reach people easier than scientists,” she says. “I can make a contribution in that area.”