Very few films have made the kind of impact and possess the same staying power as Dirty Dancing . It was a surprise smash hit that went on to define the careers of both Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
Over the years, there has been plenty of discussion surrounding the working relationship between the movie’s budding stars. Now, three decades after the film’s initial release, it’s been revealed that one of Swayze ‘s cutest moments in the film was total improv.
35 years after its release and ‘Dirty Dancing’ is still considered to be one of the best romance movies ever made.
The film stars Jennifer Grey as Frances “Baby” Houseman and Patrick Swayze as her hunky love interest/dance instructor, Johnny Castle.
In the film, “Baby” and Johnny are two different people from two entirely different worlds.
“Baby” meets Johnny while her family is vacationing at a swanky summer resort in the Catskills. Much to both their surprise and against surmounting odds, they fall in love while learning to trust one another on the dance floor.
The film is bursting with memorable scenes and ever-so-quotable dialogue.
Even if you’ve never actually seen Dirty Dancing , odds are you’ve witnessed some kind of pop-cultural allusion to Baby and Johnny’s iconic dance lift . Also, if you’ve ever wondered where the phrase “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” comes from, now you know.
Ironically, one of the film’s most revered improvised moments wasn’t born from love but rather from hate.
It’s been well-documented over the years that Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze’s chemistry didn’t quite translate off-screen. To put it bluntly — they hated one another.
Patrick elaborated on his relationship with Jennifer and the improv scene in his autobiography, aptly titled “The Time Of My Life.”
A fan-favorite moment in the film occurs when Patrick and Jennifer are performing their dance montage to Eric Carmen’s ” Hungry Eyes .”
Toward the end, Patrick runs his fingers down Jennifer’s arm — causing her to break out in a fit of laughter.
As natural as the interaction appears, Patrick goes on to explain that it absolutely wasn’t supposed to happen.
Jennifer really was ticklish in real life, which resulted in the scene having to be done over and over again.
Patrick admitted that he “didn’t have a whole lot of patience for doing multiple retakes .” So when fans see him roll his eyes in frustration — it isn’t an act.
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Swayze extolled upon Jennifer’s moods and how they could often be difficult to predict.
He said that she “Seemed particularly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticized her. Other times, she slipped into silly moods, forcing us to do scenes over and over again when she’d start laughing .”
This revelation is somewhat disheartening for fans of the beloved film.
Movie audiences can’t help but cheer for a character’s on-screen romance to bubble over into the real world. Knowing concretely that there was never any chance of that happening with Patrick and Jennifer kind of shatters the film’s illusion.
On the other hand, it also reinforces just how talented and skilled both Jennifer and Patrick were at their respective craft.
Most of us have a difficult enough time just being in the same room with someone whom we don’t like — let alone being forced to dance and interact in such a romantic way.
Despite the fact that Jennifer and Patrick never consummated a real-life relationship, ‘Dirty Dancing’ was still a surprise smash hit.
The film raked in nearly $215 million USD on a budget of only $6 million. And although the work environment wasn’t always copacetic, there’s no denying that it was the time of both Jennifer and Patrick’s lives.
