The beloved Dirty Dancing movie starring Patrick Swayze, as Johnny, and Jennifer Grey, as Baby, is a romantic love story. All fans of this movie can attest to the undeniable love between Baby and Johnny on screen. However, many are unaware of the actor’s real-life relationship. The love story between the two becomes even more intriguing when you know the real relationship that Swayze and Grey had off screen and the struggles that occurred during the filming process.
The two known as America’s sweethearts had a lot of friction in their actual relationship off camera. Swayze and Grey had previously worked together on a movie titled “Red Dawn” which is where the tension between the two developed. He was not happy when he heard that Grey was going to be his love interest in the movie. There was an eight-year age gap, and both had very different approaches to acting. According to Dirty Dancing producer, Linda Gottlieb, Swayze felt that “She was genuine, naïve; you would do a take eight times and Jennifer would do it differently every time. Patrick was a pro…She would cry easily; she was emotional, and he sort of made fun of her”. Swayze even wrote about the two’s issues in his autobiography, The Time of My Life where he wrote, “she seemed particularly emotional… other times, she slipped into silly moods, forcing us to do scenes over and over again”.
Even with this being said the two were able to create on screen love. This just goes to show how amazing both individuals are at acting. One of the most memorable scenes from the movie was when the two were dancing to the song “hungry eyes”. You are able to feel the love between the characters even without them speaking. These two were able to create romantic feelings even when there was lots of tension between them. In another scene, characters Baby and Johnny have an intense talk where Baby admits her love for him. Baby confronts Johnny about sleeping with other guests and which leads to this heated scene. Johnny states, “The reason people treat me like I’m nothing is because I am nothing.” In response to this Baby says, “ you, you are everything”, then goes on to say, “I am scared of everything…most of all I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I am with you.” This was the moment that really captured my attention because the feelings felt incredibly sincere.
Not only was the friction between the two stars a constant struggle but the weather and set also contributed to the issues during filming. The movie was filmed during the fall except it was written to take place during summertime. The cast all wore outfits that were light summer clothes but in fact when not shooting they were all wearing heavy coats. The cast never gave the impression of being cold or uncomfortable so unless you knew this it seemed to be summer. Not only was the weather a problem but so was the scenery. The movie was filmed in October, so all the leaves had already turned colors and they covered the ground. In Swayze’s biography, “One Last Dance”, he stated the plants all had to be spray painted before shooting in an effort to hide the fall foliage.
Dirty Dancing had a low budget as well which meant everyone had to be on point at all time. The producers of this movie, Vestron, gave filmmakers only $4.5 million to work with. Due to the small budget, certain sacrifices had to be made. The movie was filmed at a different location other than Catskills since it would take too much money out of the budget to film there. The entire cast but especial Swayze and Grey were worked into the ground with many rehearsals running overtime. The movie itself was filmed in 44 days which could explain the rising tensions between the two stars. Even though the stars were exhausted you never felt any of that. Both stars were also hurt while filming. Swayze continuously injured himself while doing stunts. Grey was stung badly by wasps while on set filming.
Not only was tensions, weather, and lack of money an issue but so was the perception of the film. The name “dirty dancing” bothered many as they felt that it was inappropriate for this time period. When Bill Medley, the singer of the iconic song “(I’ve) had the time of my life”, was asked to sing for the movie at first he refused. He stated, “It sounds like a bad porno movie”, but Jimmy Lenner, the music producer, was able to convince him after several months. Bill Medley was not the only one that believed that this movie was inappropriate due the name. When the movie tried to film in Canada they were stopped at the Canadian border due to officials thinking it an adult film movie. The writer of the movie thought several times that she would have to change the name of the film completely.
This movie captures your attention from the very start with the dancing, love connection, and music. It has become a classic to multiple generations. However, when you learn about the tension between Swayze and Grey as well as the multiple other technical issues this movie becomes incredible. Swayze and Grey were able to make love and romance appear even with their differences, injuries, overworking and the weather. They did an amazing job creating on camera love and being professional.
