Grease 2 star Maxwell Caulfield says actor in NSFW scene was known for on-set streaking: 'He flashed us all'

Grease 2 is remembered for many things — its epic final luau, Maxwell Caulfield in full leather on a motorcycle, Michelle Pfeiffer's breakout role, and lately, a very NSFW wardrobe malfunction.

Every few years, the internet resurfaces a clip from Grease 2 in which an actor jumping hurdles in the back of a scene taking place on the school track exposes himself. While performing his feats of athleticism, his testicles extend from the bottom of his gym shorts, clearly visible to the audience.

It spiked again in May 2021 when a Twitter user posted a clip calling out the moment.

While catching up with Caulfield for the film's 40th anniversary, he expressed his disbelief that such a moment had even made it into the film. "I cannot believe it made the final cut," he tells EW. "There's a side of me that thinks it's been CGI'd."

Still, Caulfield says because of who it was doing the jumping, the moment might even have been intentional, in his opinion.

"Knowing who was jumping those high hurdles with those unfortunately short shorts, he was a flasher," Caulfield recalls. "He flashed us all. He broke up the entire set when he did it. When we're all doing those end credits where we're all throwing the mortar boards in the air and jumping off a trampoline below camera up into frame, he came tearing across the campus with a black cape on and a black helmet. He was streaking. The crown jewels were there for us all to see. But he had good reason to be proud of himself."

"If indeed that little sequence was really in the final cut and not something that is just doing the rounds now on the internet having been altered, then it's outrageous," he added. "Though I won't name who it was, because he's actually quite a celebrated member of the director's guild."

Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Maxwell Caulfield in 'Grease 2.'

Caulfield made his film debut in Grease 2 as the geeky Brit, Michael, whose preppy looks and smarts conceal his alter ego as a motorcycle-riding "Cool Rider." Flipping the narrative of the original Grease on its head, Michelle Pfeiffer is the popular girl, Stephanie — and in order for Michael to win her heart, he has to shed his nerdier exterior and become the leather-clad biker of her dreams.

Reminiscing about his costumes, which included a sleeveless leather ensemble and an all white leather motorcycle suit, Caulfield notes that his costuming in the Off-Broadway play where he was discovered probably helped him win the part. "I got discovered Off-Broadway in that true fairy-tale way of being discovered in a small basement theater in New York and suddenly catapulted to potential Hollywood stardom" he says. "But in the second act of that play, I spent the whole of it wearing black leather trousers and tight-fitting white t-shirts. It endeared me to the theatergoers of the West Village of New York, and apparently the producers of Grease 2 as well. I think maybe that early flash in black leather did the trick."

Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Maxwell Caulfield in 'Grease 2.'

Caulfield did ride a motorcycle for parts of the film, but by and large, the riding and stunts were left to Gary Davis from Stunts Unlimited. "I'm not going to claim that I got to do a wheelie with Michelle Pfeiffer through Griffith Park," he laughs.

One jump in particular, Michael's epic entry into the Rock-a-Hulu Luau in which he arcs over a swimming pool on the bike, was particularly memorable. "The first time Gary did that jump, I think he was showing off to us all because he overshot the mark by so far," he remembers. "He just flew above all of us, and Michelle and Adrian [Zmed] in that canoe in the middle of the pool. We literally lost sight of him in the night sky. They'd set up that luau sequence on the football field. And he literally went to the far goalposts."

"He left us all in total silence and we thought he was a goner," Caulfield adds. "We thought he'd just gone kersplatt somewhere. And then, it was right out of Grease 2, there was this roaring of the engine and Gary came tearing back around. He was a true daredevil and he made it look easy."

They shot the entire luau sequence at night during the winter, and even though it was filmed in Southern California, Caulfield remembers it being cold and an altogether strange experience. "We were all feeling it," he says. "It was all very surreal, and then you add Gary doing that insane jump, and we did very well not to be filling those coconuts with 128 proof rum along with the milk."

Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Michelle Pfeiffer and Maxwell Caulfield in 'Grease 2.'

When Grease 2 first debuted in 1982, it was not well received by critics, with most panning the film and declaring it inferior in comparison to the original Grease. Caulfield largely bore the brunt of that, finding it difficult to get cast in projects for several years after. So, he, perhaps more than anyone, has been shocked at the film's transformation into a veritable cult classic over the last 40 years.

"Here we are four decades later, and I'm still talking about Grease 2. It's incredible," marvels Caulfield. "I was living a fantasy making that film. I just wished at the time it had been more successful. It would have made my career a lot easier."

A special limited edition blu-ray steelbook of Grease 2 is now available from Paramount Home Entertainment.

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