It’s got romance, it’s got action, it’s got Patrick Swayze in spirit form—What’s not to love about Ghost (1990)? The supernatural romance starring Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg was a somewhat unexpected success, but its legacy has stood the test of time, and most of us can’t listen to “Unchained Melody” without cracking a little smile. Here, check out a few facts about Ghost you might not have known.
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The love scene has gone down in history
Who can forget the steamy pottery scene from this beloved film? While it certainly became an iconic piece of pop culture (countless shows and films have paid homage to it in the past), it was something the lead actors in the film were proud of. “I was happy—and relieved—with how it turned out,” Patrick Swayze said in his autobiography, The Time of My Life. “Demi and I had managed to capture a moment between these two people that made everything that happened later in the story feel that much more wrenching and emotional.”
Director Jerry Zucker didn’t initially want to cast Patrick Swayze as the lead
At this point in Swayze’s career, the actor had become somewhat stereotyped after films like Dirty Dancing and Road House—so much so that the director of Ghost had little interest in casting him in this film. After seeing Road House in theaters, Zucker’s stance was reinforced. However, when Swayze came and read for the part, they were blown away.
“I did six scenes, and at first it was like, okay, prove it,” Swayze said in a video featured on the DVD for the film. “But as I went on, I could feel them warming up and I warmed up. I started realizing that this could be one of those roles of a lifetime.” By the end of his audition, everyone in the room had tears in their eyes, and the rest is history.
There is speculation about a remake of the film starring Channing Tatum
In the era of reboots and remakes, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Ghost is a contender. Channing Tatum revealed that his production company acquired the rights to the film, but when the time comes for his take on the movie, he’d be changing things up a bit. As for what the original cast thinks, Demi Moore told Entertainment Weekly, “Look, every story in some ways has already been told. The wonderful thing is the different way things can be reinterpreted.” She continued, “I think there are some films that often are better left not touched, and left, and then sometimes there are wonderful surprises in that reinterpretation.” We’re keeping our eyes peeled!
Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg had a close off-screen relationship
Before being cast in the film, Whoopi Goldberg was told that she wasn’t wanted for it. However, once Swayze came aboard, he said he wouldn’t do the film unless she did. “I’m in the middle of this other movie and my agent says, ‘Remember that movie they didn’t want you for? Well they’ve hired a guy who says he’s not going to commit unless he is sure you don’t want to do it,” she explained to Loose Women in 2017. In 1991, she took home the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In her acceptance speech, she thanked Swayze, calling him a “standup guy.”
Ghost certainly made the big bucks
Although it it didn’t contain the exact ingredients for an award-winning and iconic movie the way it ended up being, it was the highest-grossing film of the year.
And Demi Moore took home a souvenir from the film
What better piece of memorabilia to bring back with you than a piece of pottery? Demi Moore still has the little works she made on the film with Patrick Swayze, though she told The Graham Norton Show that her pots were “pitiful.”
