Despite an unpleasant first impression, Jennifer Grey speaks fondly on her relationship with her former co-star Patrick Swayze.
Earlier this week, Grey stopped by The View to discuss her memoir, “Out of the Corner,” which includes stories about her tense experiences working with the actor, who died in 2009 at the age of 57.
After starring together in 1984’s Red Dawn, Grey and Swayze ended up by one another’s side once again for Dirty Dancing in 1987. Due to some issues on set throughout their first film together, Jennifer admits she was hesitant about working with Patrick once again.
“Patrick was playing pranks on me and everybody,” Grey said of their time on the set of Red Dawn. “It was just, like, macho, and I just couldn’t take it. I was just like, ‘Please, this guy, that’s enough with him.’”
Following that experience, she wasn’t sure about signing on for Dirty Dancing with Swayze, but she agreed to do a screen test with him anyway. During their chemistry read, he ended up apologizing for his behavior on the previous film.
© GettyImages“He pulled me down the hall and said to me, ‘I love you, I love you, and I’m so sorry. And I know you don’t want me to do the movie,‘” she explained.
Grey continued, “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.’”
“We go in there and he takes me in his arms and I was like, ‘Oh, boy. I’m done,‘” Jennifer said of the chemistry read.
And as we all know now, they did the film together, creating one of the most classic movies of all time.
Soon, Grey will be returning for a sequel to Dirty Dancing. The film franchise released a prequel in 2004, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, and produced a made-for-TV remake in 2017.
