Dirty Dancing is one of the most popular movies of all time.
As many times as you have watched the film, there is still so much you don’t know. You will become the leading expert on Dirty Dancing once and for all.
It’s one of the most iconic movies of all time.
It tells a beautiful story about love and even deals with sensitive subject matter such as abortion, which was shocking for people at the time.
Just because people loved the movie, doesn’t mean they know everything about it.
People don’t know a lot of interesting facts. We are here to help. Let’s learn all the interesting facts about the film.
1. Eleanor Bergstein said that “Dirty Dancing” sparked a political movement in other parts of the world.
“When a woman comes in for help, it’s a policy in the battered women’s shelters in Russia. First, they wash and dress her wounds, then they give her soup.”
Then they show her Dirty Dancing.
When the Berlin Wall came down, there were pictures of kids wearing t-shirts that said “We want to have what they have in the West!” She said in 2006 that they wanted Dirty Dancing.
2. Patrick Swayze injured himself while filming because he insisted on doing his own stunts.
He had to have fluid drained from his knee in order to continue filming after he injured it during the famous log scene.
That’s commitment!
When he passed away, that little bit of information was confirmed by the woman who was with him.
“Patrick was a rare combination of raw masculine and amazing grace. He was a cowboy with a tender heart.” She said that he was fearless and insisted on doing his own stunts, so it was not surprising that he waged a war on his cancer.
3. Some scenes in the movie were filmed in different states, which made it appear like the entire movie was filmed in one place.
The cabin exteriors were filmed at Mountain Lake in Virginia, while the lake scene was filmed at Lake Lure in North Carolina.
4. At the time Jennifer Grey was auditioning for the role of Baby, she was 26 years old.
She had to prove that she was capable of pulling off a younger character.
She was able to win over the casting directors.
5. There was a theory according to Patrick on why the movie was such a classic.
“It makes a lot of sense to me,” he said it had so much heart.
It’s not about sensuality; it’s about people trying to find themselves.
He said that the young dance instructor felt like a product.
A young girl is trying to find out who she is in a society of restrictions when she has an amazing take on things.
6. Baby and Johnny are always wearing contrasting colors. This was done on purpose.
Baby wears pale colors throughout the film, while Johnny wears darker ones.
This was done to portray Baby’s innocence and Johnny’s dark, brooding persona coming together.
7. The “Cry To Me” love scene was voted the sexiest movie scene of all time.
Sorry to Edward and Bella. These two are good at turning up the heat.
I’m sure there are many other love scenes that can compete with this one, but “Cry To Me” is still the best one.
8. Two weeks before they started filming, the rehearsals began.
The cast only had two weeks of dance rehearsals before they began filming.
They wanted to make sure the leaves didn’t change colors halfway through filming.
9. Sarah Jessica had also tried out for the role of Baby but didn’t get it.
Billy said that Sarah almost got the part after the film’s success.
The deciding factor was who had better chemistry with Patrick.
10. Patrick refused to be a part of the sequel because he was against it.
He turned down $6 million to reprise the role of Johnny because he was against sequels.
11. The movie was supposed to have some nude scenes originally.
There were nude scenes in the director’s cut of the film.
The scenes were cut from the final version of the movie after viewers voted against it during screen testing.
12. Patrick Swayze was the only actor who was considered to play Johnny.
Only Patrick was considered for Johnny. It was only him. We looked through pictures and I said, ‘Oh, there’s the eyes we want,’ and we turned them over, and Emile [Ardolino], our director, said, ‘As a matter of fact he’s a Joffrey dancer,'” screenwriter, Eleanor Bergstein revealed.
She added, “We followed him and when I met him I said, ‘Now I know you and if you decide not to do it, I find it hard to believe I will make this movie…”
“It was always Patrick, the only one we offered it to, and a wonderful, brilliant, good man.”
13. Grey said that Swayze was more fearless than her.
The chemistry between the two of them was served by that.
She said that she and her husband were like a marriage where you have two opposites. “I would be scared to do anything if he did anything.”
14. Grey and Swayze ended up getting along even though they fought a lot.
Grey said there was a feeling of an easy chair. She mentioned the words he said to her.
“I will never let you get hurt. Could throw myself around. I might be careless with my own body, but I will stand in front of a train for you.”
She said that she was doing things that she had never been capable of doing before, because of her ability to allow him to take care of her.
That was life imitating art.
“I have tears in my eyes.”
15. Eleanor Bergstein didn’t think the movie would become famous.
“We had no hope of anything. The studio producers told us that the movie would go straight to video bins after a few days in the theater. After all these years, it was our wonderful audiences who kept it in the theater.”
Do you have any “Dirty Dancing” behind-the-scenes secrets that you’d like to share?
Or is it that you were just surprised by those secrets?
