"It was difficult working with him"- John Leguizamo opens up on working with 'neurotic' Patrick Swayze

Actor, comedian, and film producer John Leguizamo recently appeared on the SiriusXM radio show Andy Cohen Live and got candid about his “difficult” relationship with the late actor-dancer Patrick Swayze.

On May 2’s episode, host Andy Cohen told John Leguizamo how he heard that Patrick Swayze was “an absolute angel” to work with. The Super Mario Bros. star replied –

“That's different than what I experienced. He was just, rest in peace, 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.”

---

John Leguizamo and Patrick Swayze were co-stars in the 1995 road dramedy Too Wong Foo, Thanks For everything! Julie Newmar where they both acted in the roles of New York City drag queens, alongside actor and martial arts specialist Wesley Snipes.

---

Patrick Swayze worked “way differently” than John Leguizamo

During the latest episode of Andy Cohen Live, John Leguizamo opened up about working with Patrick Swayze on Beeban Kidron’s Too Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar.

The 63-year-old Columbia native hailed the film as “very important,” referring to its LGBTQ+ theme, while Andy Cohen said it was so “unusual.” The host also added that from what he heard, Patrick Swayze was a delight to work with.

In response, John Leguizamo paused and uttered, “Hm,” making Cohen curious, as he said, “Oh, interesting!” and asked the former to share his onset experience with Swayze.

Explaining that he loves Patrick Swayze and repeating the words, “Rest in peace,” the Encanto star said he had a “different” experience with his late co-actor, whom he tagged as “neurotic,” and “difficult” to work with. When asked whether Swayze was a perfectionist, the Special Tony Award recipient stated –

"I don't know. Just neurotic. I think maybe a tiny bit insecure, and then Wesley and I had, we vibed because, you know, we're people of color. We got each other and I'm also an improviser, and he [Swayze] didn't like that."

John Leguizamo continued by saying –

"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."

The All of You singer also admitted that Swayze worked “way differently” than him, and didn’t invent his characters as much as he did. Leguizamo acknowledged rewriting and expanding his role in the film, adding that the screenplay writer Douglas Carter Beane may “disagree,” but deep down “he knows what I brought to it. He knows.”

Notably, this was not the first time John Leguizamo spoke about his experience with Patrick Swayze. Earlier, in September 2020, he told Yahoo! Entertainment how he and the She’s Like the Wind crooner almost got involved in a fistfight on the sets of Too Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar when he tried to improvise his role.

"I was ad-libbing... and [Patrick] was tired. He said, 'Are you going to do that again?' And I go, 'Yeah, you know how the routine is.' He goes, 'Well, why don't you shut up?' And I said, 'Why don’t you make me?!'" he told the news outlet back then.

He also added how they soon realized that the fight was “ridiculous,” stopped midway, and hugged it out.

Meanwhile, Patrick Swayze, who passed away tragically in 2009 from pancreatic cancer, wrote in his memoir The Time of My Life how despite John’s “hyperactive energy,” he loved working with him.

He also mentioned that there were times Leguizamo drove him “a little crazy,” but looking back, it contributed to one of the funniest moments on the shoot. He also corroborated John’s fistfight story.