“I was kind of before my time”: Olivia Newton-John’s unlikely career ambition
From a young age, Olivia Newton-John found herself longing to be in the spotlight, singing and acting in local productions that quickly garnered attention.
But the turning point of Newton-John’s career came in 1965 when, at 17, she entered the TV talent competition Sing, Sing, Sing, clearly possessing something special, and walked away as the winner. From that moment on, she’d become a well-known star, appearing on Australian TV and even landing a movie role in a bizarre British sci-fi musical called Toomorrow.
The 1970 film was not a hit, not only because it wasn’t good, but because it wasn’t widely shown until decades after its release due to an injunction obtained by star Val Guest, who claimed that none of the cast or crew had been paid. Newton-John’s first proper experience of being a movie star didn’t exactly go to plan, so instead, she stepped away from cinema and focused all of her efforts on her musical career, releasing her debut album, If Not For You, the following year.
Newton-John would then become a major pop star, pivoting towards a more accessible and country-inspired sound over the years. She received her first number one single in the United States with ‘I Honestly Love You’ in 1974, and that same year placed fourth in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Of course, her fame was buoyed by Grease in the late 1970s, with the actor landing the leading role of the rather green Sandy, alongside John Travolta in Randal Kleiser’s adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, who enjoys a summer of love with Danny before unsuspectingly reuniting at school. Undergoing a bold transformation, which includes an infamous skin-tight catsuit, Grease was one of the biggest hits of the decade, and the soundtrack album, full of catchy numbers, sold like hotcakes.
But Newton-John almost opted for a completely different career path, without music or acting, or even getting physical. Rather keen to help animals, she was set on becoming a vet and had made quite the opposite decision to chase stardom. But sometimes these things just happen; when success starts to come, why not follow it, and she clearly had talent.
Talking to Interview Magazine, she revealed, “When I was a young girl, I was so crazy about animals that I wanted to do something associated with them, and I thought of being a vet. But then again, I figured I had to go to medical school, and science wasn’t a good subject for me, so I dropped the idea pretty soon and thought maybe I could be a vet’s assistant.”
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But is it any easier to break into the entertainment industry than it is to study to become a vet? You’d think that that would be more doable than making a name for yourself in such a cutthroat, competitive industry, but evidently, Newton-John was more suited for the big screen and the recording studio than saving the lives of animals.
She had another career avenue in mind, too, but that also proved to be an unlikely venture. “And then I thought of a mounted policewoman, because I figured I could ride horses and be paid for it; what a job! But they didn’t have them then, so I was kind of before my time. Suddenly, this singing career came along, and I had to make that decision.” It looks like she made the right one, because she then became one of the best-selling artists of all time.
