John Leguizamo Talks About His 'Difficult' Relationship with Patrick Swayze on RADIO ANDY

In a new interview with Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM show, actor John Leguizamo discussed his working relationship with Ghost star Patrick Swayze on the set of the film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.

After Cohen mentioned how highly people speak of Swayze, Leguizamo recalls a different experience on set, saying "I love him. He was just neurotic and I'm not, you know, I'm neurotic too, but I don't know. He was just, it was difficult working with him."

He went on to add his opinion that Swayze was "maybe a tiny bit insecure and then Wesley [Snipes] and I had, we vibed because, you know, we're people of color and you know, we got each other and I'm also an improviser and he didn't like that. He couldn't keep up with it and it would make him mad and upset sometimes. He'd be like, "Are you gonna say a line like that?" I'd go, "You know me. I'm gonna do me. I'm gonna just keep making up lines." He goes, "Well, can you just say the line the way it is?" I go, "I can't," and the director didn't want me to.

He concluded by reiterating their different approaches to the material: "I invented my role. I rewrote that role. I expanded that role because that role was nothing. Douglas Carter Beane may disagree because he wrote the script, but he knows what I brought to it. He knows."

Also in the interview, Leguizamo discusses the musical version of the film, which played last year in London, and the possibility of a sequel to the Disney animated film Encanto.

To Wong Foo is the 1995 cult-classic film that featured an all-star cast including Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, John Leguizamo, Stockard Channing, Robin Williams, and RuPaul. In 2023, a musical adaptation played a limited 9-week run at the Hope Mill Theatre in London.

About John Leguizamo

With a career spanning more than 150 films and television appearances, Leguizamo has also demonstrated his versatility by writing and performing on Broadway.  He earned four Tony Award® nominations for his works Freak (1998), Sexaholix… (2002), and Latin History for Morons (2018). In recognition of his outstanding contributions, Leguizamo was honored with a Special Tony Award® in 2018.