Hollywood star John Leguizamo brands Patrick Swayze ‘insecure’ and ‘neurotic’
John Leguizamo has branded Patrick Swayze “insecure” and “neurotic” and admitted the late actor was “difficult” to work with.
The pair starred as drag queens in the 1995 movie To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and Leguizamo has admitted he can’t understand Swayze’s reputation as an “angel” because they struggled to get along.
During an appearance on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, the host said: “All I hear about Patrick Swayze was just what an absolute angel he was.”
Leguizamo replied: “Hmm, that’s different than what I experienced ... Rest in peace, I love him. He was just neurotic. And I’m neurotic too, but I don’t know, he was just – it was difficult working with him.”
The actor went on to admit he got on much better with fellow co-star Wesley Snipes, adding: “[Swayze was] just neurotic, maybe a tiny bit insecure. And then Wesley [Snipes] and I, we vibed, ‘cause, you know, we’re people of colour, and we’ve got each other.”
Leguizamo went on to reveal Swayze wasn’t a fan of his acting style. “I’m also like 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 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.”
Swayze died in 2009 at the age of 57 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Leguizamo went on to add that he’s proud of To Wong Foo because it helped the LGBTQ+ community.
He added: “It was very important because a lot of transgender kids, [LGBTQ+] kids come up to me, who are now I guess a little older, they said because of that show and my character, they felt confident to come out to their parents. And I felt like, ‘Wow, that’s what art’s supposed to do.’
“Art’s supposed to give people courage, art’s supposed to teach people empathy, that’s what I got in the business for.”