Swayze’s New Role: Not Just a ‘Ghost’ of His Old Movie Self

Patrick Swayze hoofed his way to stardom in “Dirty Dancing” but drifted away from his romantic image when producers cast him as a slam-bang action star in his next two movies, “Road House” and “Next of Kin.”

Now he’s back as his old charming self in “Ghost,” to be released July 13. He says it is his best picture since “Dirty Dancing.”

In reality, Swayze is equal parts brawn, brains and sensitivity.

The son of a Texas cowpoke who knew hard times, Swayze idolized his father and is proud of his horse ranch in California and his farm in Texas.

He also is proud of “Ghost,” a non-violent drama with comedy in which he plays a murdered man who returns from the spirit world to communicate with the woman he loves (Demi Moore) in order to save her life.

Portraying a ghost, invisible to the rest of the characters, proved disconcerting.

“It was very strange to read a line and get absolutely no reaction from the other performers,” Swayze said in an interview.

“The character I play is overwhelmed by the feeling of being totally ineffectual, which I felt, too. It was weird doing the special effects--. . . scenes like walking through walls--all on my own with no other actors around.

“The descriptions were written beautifully, but it was a different matter bringing them to life in terms of reality or playability. I’d have a five-page scene in which the ghost was not dealt with. It was hard to play.

“There’s a lot of excitement about this movie, which I hate to hear. In the past I’ve never put too much stock in rumors about a picture’s success. When a movie is over I go on to the next one, so all my cookies aren’t in one basket.

“But people keep telling me ‘Ghost’ is going to be the surprise hit of the summer because it’s a love story with great warmth that has audiences feeling good at the end.

“It’s the first movie I’ve ever felt 100% proud of. And maybe it’s the first one I’ve done that parents can take their kids to see. It has great heart and good things to say about life.

“I sort of feel I’m at home in ‘Ghost.’ My insides as a human being were screaming to do a picture where people walk out of the theater being affected in a positive way. I needed it for myself, too.”

While Swayze enjoys the more sensitive roles, he has not forsaken action thrillers. The broad-shouldered actor is in production with young Keanu Reeves in “River on the Storm,” an action picture in which he will be called upon to sky-dive and surf with expertise.

“Action pictures are great. I love ‘em. I’m a male beast. But it seems I’m best at romance,” Swayze said. “I’m a romantic fool to the core. I’d like to play Clark Gable kind of roles. There’s a gentle part of me, and that’s what my father was.

“He was an intense, strong man but there was a gentleness to him, and those are my best qualities. Like my father, I find the vulnerable side of me confusing because that’s not what we were taught a man was supposed to be.

“Maybe all men are trying to figure out how to handle that sensitive side of our nature. It’s a matter of not squelching the wild man--the unpredictable male thing we have inside us--and at the same time to be sensitive and gentle.

“It’s those qualities that I try to project in my movie roles.”

In “River on the Storm,” Swayze says he plays “an adrenaline junky who will do anything to get that ‘alive’ feeling.”

“I can understand that. I go for the action and physical thrill.”

“I’m surfing almost every day so that by the time we get to Hawaii I can be surfing the big waves. I can’t talk about sky-diving for insurance reasons. But I’m a guy who insists on doing his own action and stunts.”