The 1987 classic Dirty Dancing continues to endear itself to younger fans today for good reason.
Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey had amazing chemistry on screen, so much so that many of their emotional takes were way more natural than people give them credit for.
But before the pair took part in Dirty Dancing, Swayze and Grey appeared alongside each other in the 1984 film, Red Dawn.
Filming that movie left Grey with a bad taste in her mouth after working with Swayze.
So before filming began, Swayze pulled Grey aside and apologized.
And so, Johnny Castle and Frances “Baby” Houseman were born.
Swazye passed in 2009 but his voice, his character, and those incredible dance moves will forever be in the hearts of fans.
There have been a lot of stories regarding the relationship between Swayze and Grey but regardless of whether they got along on set or not, the film just really worked!
Swayze, in an interview with the American Film Institute, had nothing but praises for his co-star.
He says that when Grey is crying or giggling, those moments worked well because “they’re real”.
Swayze admits to being frustrated with Grey, saying he would try to get her focused and forget her fear.
“She seemed particularly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticized her,” Swayze wrote in his autobiography, The Time of My Life.
“Other times, she slipped into silly moods, forcing us to do scenes over and over again when she’d start laughing.” he shared.
The actor also wrote that he “didn’t have a whole lot of patience for doing multiple retakes.”
He had a different approach to acting, being 8 years older than Grey whose methods irritated Swayze.
It was a “teaching situation”, according to Swayze, as he was a dancer his whole life, and Grey was a young actress who had lots of talent that “needed to be nourished.”
He says Grey’s character “Baby” was really special thanks to Grey’s personality.
Swayze called her “one of the most gifted actresses around in terms of her ability to be present in the moment right now”.
The two stars also spoke highly of each other even though there had been issues on working together.
Swayze and Grey were truly professionals who respected one another.
If you watch Dirty Dancing again, you may pick up on certain scenes where Patrick was actually annoyed with Jennifer.
The director decided to leave some of those moments in after getting tired of re-shooting scenes when the actor would be irritated with Grey.
And yet if you search for behind the scenes footage of Swayze teaching Grey how to dance for the film, you would swear that those two were meant to be with each other for the movie.
It’s like they were born for the roles.
There’s just no way the film would have worked if they had gotten other actors to play Johnny and Baby.
Listen to the late great Patrick Swayze speak his mind in the video below!
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