Alex Pettyfer and Jimmy Kimmel Sing Diana Ross and Lionel Richie's "Endless Love"—Watch Now!

Actor and host cover the 1981 song on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

By Zach Johnson Feb 14, 2014 1:00 PMTags
Alex Pettyfer, Jimmy KimmelYouTube

Jimmy Kimmel has fond memories of the original Endless Love, starring Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt. "It was a huge deal when I was in junior high school. It was rated R, so you had to kind of figure out a way to sneak in and see it," he told Thursday's Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest Alex Pettyfer, who stars in the remake.

"Is this a movie you were at all familiar with?" he asked the British actor, who was born nine years after the film's 1981 release. "I watched the movie when I found out I got the part, and I read the book," said Pettyfer, who stars opposite Gabriella Wilde. "It's a very different movie than ours."

Kimmel was unaware that the movies were adapted from the Scott Spencer novel. "Is Brooke Shields in the book also?" he joked.

"What I really remember most of all is the Lionel Richie and Diana Ross song. Is that in the movie?" When Pettyfer told him that it isn't, an incredulous Kimmel asked, "How can that not be in the movie?"

A light bulb went off in Pettyfer's head. "I think we should sing it," he suggested. Pettyfer volunteered to sing Richie's part and looked up the lyrics on his iPhone. "Wait a minute," Kimmel said. "I can't be Diana Ross!" Pettyfer agreed to give up his part and perform Ross' lines instead. When his big moment came, he decided to sit in Kimmel's lap and wrap his arm around the host's shoulder.

Pettyfer—who also caressed the comedian's face during the bromantic duet—sang a few bars before returning to his chair. Kimmel then laughed and told the audience, "This is the gayest show ever."