Dirty Dancing was originally known for its dynamic tenderness on screen, and the film’s cast, Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze, shared their filming experiences.
The two actors in the film had a deep relationship, which caused rifts and tension in the movie.
According to Collider, both shared a wild experience while shooting the 1980s romantic film and often hurt each other’s feelings.
Emile Ardolino directed the film, which features Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston, and Jane Brooker in the main cast.
Gray reveals his bad experiences on set, how the two clashed, and how bad experiences in Red Dawn interfered with Swayze’s chances of getting the star-making role of Johnny Cassels.
Swayze revealed how he became frustrated with Gray as a professional dancer and spoke about his difficulties while filming.
“When we’re doing those dance sequences and everything, and she’s crying and giggling, those moments work because they’re real.”
“They just took pieces of Patrick and Jennifer working together as attempting to be a dance team and my frustration,” added Swayze.
“My real frustration. I’m trying to keep this girl serious. I’m trying to keep her from crying, trying to keep her focused, to get past her fear and her ego…”
Gray and Swayze risked their chances of a lead role opposite Jennifer Grey’s chances in Dirty Dancing.
During Red Dawn, Gray did not want to work with Swayze again.
Discussing shooting the war film, she said, “Patrick was joking with me and everybody… It was just so manly, and I couldn’t stand it. I’m just saying, ‘Please, this boy, that’s enough with him”.
In Grey’s words, Swayze said, “‘I love you, I love you, and I’m so sorry. And I know you don’t want me to do the movie…And he got the tears in his eyes. And I got the tears in my eyes — not for the same reason.
I was like, ‘Oh, this guy’s working me…And he goes, ‘We could kill it — we could kill it if we did this.”
She also wrote in Out of the Corner in 2022 that she wrote about the many differences between them and how, if she could, she would apologize to Swayze
“I would say, ‘I’m so sorry that I couldn’t just appreciate and luxuriate in who you were, instead of wishing you were more like what I wanted you to be…”
Before his death, Patrick Swayze revealed in a series of interviews with AFI that he admired and commented on Gray as an actress and reflected on how the film influenced his life.
“One thing that worked beautifully was that it was a teaching situation. I had been a dancer my entire life.
Jennifer had a great deal of natural talent but needed nourishment. So I think Jennifer was at that time, and still,
She is one of the most gifted actresses around in terms of her ability to be present in the moment. And I think that’s what made Baby and her character special.”
Dirty Dancing is streaming on Apple TV+ and is available for both rental or purchase
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