On July 13, 1990, “Ghost,” starring Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg, was released in theaters. Aside from becoming 1990’s highest-grossing film globally, “Ghost” also had many of us eyeing that local pottery class. As audiences fell in love with the film about a young woman and the ghost of her murdered boyfriend. “Ghost” went on to receive five nominations at the 63rd Academy Awards, taking home Best Original Screenplay Oscar and Goldberg won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She became the second black woman in Oscar history to win the statuette. Goldberg also won the Golden Globe Award that year for her role as the spiritual advisor. Twenty-eight years later, it is nearly impossible to hear “Unchained Melody” without being immediately transported back to that steamy pottery scene between Moore and Swayze.
The most memorable part of “Ghost” is unquestionably the opening pottery scene. However, the iconic scene almost did not happen. In the original screenplay, Molly Jensen (Moore) was not conceived as a potter, but a wood sculptor. In an interview, “Ghost” screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin explained: “I envisioned her with these big blocks of wood and with big hammers and really going at it and really powerful.” Director Jeffrey Zucker was not feeling it, so Rubin switched her to a potter instead. To prepare for the role, Moore took a few pot-throwing lessons. Both Swayze and Moore were nervous while filming the sexy scene and neither of them planned for what became the hottest moment on the pottery wheel: when the clay plot collapsed.
Meanwhile, Goldberg, who won an Oscar for her role, shared in 2008 that Swayze was the reason she even landed the part. The producers resisted casting her as Oda Mae Brown as they felt as though she was not famous enough to star in their film. However, Swayze insisted that he would not do the film without Goldberg. In her 1991 Oscar speech, Goldberg made sure to give Swayze a shout-out.
“Ghost” proved that love can transcend death while having many of us afterlife skeptics believing in ghosts – preferably in the form of a shirtless Swayze. Additionally, the film also helped push Moore and Goldberg’s already careers to a whole other level. In 1993, Goldberg was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood and Moore held that position three years later.