Lori Petty Just Described Filming ‘Point Break’ With Patrick Swayze

Free Willy star Lori Petty has been relatively quiet about her career over the years — but 35 years after one of her most beloved films hit theaters, she is finally opening up about what it was actually like to make it.

In a rare interview with PEOPLE, Petty, 62, looked back on filming Point Break — the 1991 surf thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow that starred Keanu Reeves as undercover FBI agent Johnny Utah and Patrick Swayze as the charismatic surf gang leader he infiltrates. Petty played Tyler, the sun-soaked, free-spirited surfer at the center of the film’s emotional world, according to Parade, which first published the interview.

A Dream of a Shoot

Petty’s description of the filming experience is about as uncomplicated as it gets — she called it a dream, and she meant it literally. The production involved surfing, football, physical training, and spending her days surrounded by an enthusiastic cast in a world that felt nothing like a typical film set. She described the whole thing as an absolute blast from beginning to end and made clear that the memories have stayed vivid across the decades since.

The Patrick Swayze Nobody Got to See on Screen

The most striking part of Petty’s recollections centers on Swayze, who passed away in 2009. She described a man who seemed physically incapable of doing anything halfway — someone who chased every experience available to him with complete commitment. On Point Break, that translated into Swayze going skydiving before reporting to set in the mornings, simply because it was something he could do and loved doing.

She recalled him as someone who had the same relationship with motorcycles, dancing, and virtually any other physical discipline — always pushing further, always taking things to their limit. She described him as performing ballet in the air during the film’s skydiving sequences, making clear that the athleticism audiences saw on screen was entirely his own. She also remembered him as genuinely warm and consistently good company — noting, with obvious affection, that he always smelled wonderful.

What About Keanu Reeves?

Petty was equally warm about Reeves, describing the experience of being around both Swayze and Reeves simultaneously as one that required very little imagination to enjoy.

Nobody Knew It Would Become a Classic

Perhaps the most honest part of Petty’s reflection is how little she understood, while filming was happening, about what Point Break would eventually become. She acknowledged knowing the talent and star power that Swayze and Reeves each brought to the project — but said that when you’re in the middle of making a film, you’re simply not thinking about the cultural footprint it might leave behind. The phenomenon the film became was something she discovered along with everyone else.

Point Break is returning to theaters this August with a new 4K restoration. Petty is currently appearing as Dr. Lenora Friedman on NCIS: Origins.