Dirty Dancingshimmied onto the silver screen on Aug. 21, 1987, and summers haven't been the same since. StarringJennifer Greyas teenage resort guest Frances "Baby" Houseman and the latePatrick Swayzeas enigmatic dance instructor Johnny Castle,Dirty Dancinghas become a pop culture mainstay —referenced on sitcomssuch asModern Family, scenesreenacted in movieslike 2011'sCrazy, Stupid, Loveand signature choreographyrecreated at couples' weddings. Songs like theAcademy Award-winning "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" are not only synonymous with the 1987 classic but have become music staples in their own right. Not every iconic moment from the romance drama is loved by all, however. The one line nearly everyone knows, even if they haven't seen the film — "Nobody puts Baby in a corner!" — was the least favorite for one of the lead actors. Despite varying opinions on that now-famous line, it's impossible to ignore the enduring popularity ofDirty Dancing, which Grey has attributed to the movie being "very genuine and simple." "It was about innocenceand the way that innocence is lost and how people explode into a different iteration of themselves," theFerris Bueller's Day Offstar told PEOPLE in 2020. Keep reading to find out which cast member despised that renowned catchphrase and even more fun facts aboutDirty Dancing. David Cooper/Toronto Star via Getty WhileDirty Dancingis not autobiographical, the film was inspired by many elements from screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's real life. Bergstein spent summers in the Catskills with her parents (though she wasn't there in 1963, the year the film was set). Not only was her father a doctor, but she also went by the nickname "Baby" until she was in her early 20s. Of course, she loved to dirty dance. "There are many, many, many things about my life that are in it — my family, my sense of this resort that I saw as a 12-year-old with my nose pressed to the dance studio, and I imagined the rest — but this is not the story of my 17th summer," BergsteintoldWoman's Worldin 2024. "It's not an accurate story of my life, it just uses lots of elements of my life." Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Among the film's original songs, three became pop classics. Swayze co-wrote and performed "She's Like the Wind," which he originally intended for his 1984 film,Grandview, U.S.A.He later brought it to the film's producer, Linda Gottlieb, who loved it. "Hungry Eyes" byEric Carmenand "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes were also huge hits. The latter won multiple awards, including an Oscar, aGolden Globeand aGrammy. As for the rest of the mega soundtrack, the crew had to scramble to afford the music that Bergstein insisted on including. Eventually, all the songs she requested made it into the movie, thanks in large part to music producer Jimmy Ienner. Since its release, theDirty Dancingsoundtrack has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and has become one of the best-selling albums of all time,per Legacy Recordings. Vestron/Kobal/Shutterstock It was down to the wire when the filmmakers picked "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" for the final scene. The night before shooting the finale, they went through a bag of cassette tapes that had been sent over to them, all of which contained original songs submitted for the movie. "The last cassette ... Well, that was it," choreographerKenny Ortegasaid in 2019 on season 1 of the Netflix docuseriesThe Movies That Made Us. Singer-songwriter Frank Previte, who also wrote "Hungry Eyes," served as co-writer of the legendary track. The filmmakers went through many photos of actors' eyes to find their perfect Johnny. "I wanted hooded eyes," Bergsteinsaid on the "Dirty Dancing" episodeofThe Movies That Made Us. "So, we went through picture after picture, and I said, 'Ah! Those are the eyes I want.' " However, they auditioned other actors because Swayze's resume stated "no dancing" — even though his mom was a well-known Texas dance teacher, and he was a professionally trained ballet dancer. The note was there because Swayze had suffered a knee injury playing high school football and didn't want to audition for projects as a dancer. Ron Galella/getty Dirty Dancingis a coming-of-age story about 17-year-old Baby, but Grey was 26 when she nabbed the leading role, while her co-star Swayze was 34. "Jennifer Grey was pushed into the audition room by her father, and we were in love," Gottlieb said onThe Movies That Made Us. Bergstein added, "As she [Grey] walked in, she said, 'Wish me luck, Daddy,' and she just closed the Baby's face in my mind, and from that moment on, she was the only person I wanted." Before Grey became Baby, casting director Bonnie Timmermann looked at 127 other stars for the role. Timmermann consideredWinona RyderandSharon Stonefor the part, andKyra Sedgwickwas among the screen-testers. However, it came down to two final actresses:Sarah Jessica Parkerand Grey. Ultimately, Grey and Swayze's chemistry during their screen test sealed the deal. "Our being forced to be togethercreated a kind of a synergyor like a friction," Grey later told PEOPLE in 2022 ahead of the release of her memoir,Out of the Corner. ActorsBenicio Del Toro, the lateVal Kilmer,Adrian ZmedandBilly Zaneeach auditioned for the role of Johnny.Titanicstar Zane got to the final screen-test stages, but Bergstein said onThe Movies That Made Usthat he "danced like someone who looked like he had learned to dance wonderfully for his bar mitzvah." Plus, Bergstein always wanted Swayze for the role,tellingCosmopolitanin 2017 that "it was always him and only him." "We went after him, and when I met him, I said, 'Now that I know you, if you decide not to do this, it's hard for me to think that I'll make the film.' I really felt that way, and I still do," Bergstein said. "So it was always Patrick, only Patrick, the only one we offered it to, and a wonderful, brilliant, good man." Vestron Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection Grey and Swayze had previously worked together on the 1984 filmRed Dawnand did not get along. "She begged us to have anyone but Patrick," Bergstein said onThe Movies That Made Us. During an appearance onThe Viewin 2022, Grey revealed Swayze had played pranks on her and others on set. "It was just, like, macho, and I just couldn't take it. I was just like, 'Please, this guy, that's enough with him,' " she said. Grey was opposed to having Swayze sign on opposite her inDirty Dancinguntil he took her aside for a heart-to-heart during their screen test. "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,' " Grey added. "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.' " With that, Grey as Baby and Swayze as Johnny were cemented in cinema history. Although they managed to work things out enough to film, the pair still clashed on set. Swayze had been a dancer for his entire life, much like his on-screen character, while Grey didn't have much experience. The pair channeled their pent-up frustrations into their performance. "The same way Baby and Johnny were not supposed to be together,we weren't a natural match," Grey told PEOPLE in 2022. "And that created a tension which made the movie work." Some of their more lighthearted moments were caught on film, such as the famous "Love Is Strange" scene. After seeing the pair fool around on the floor during a warm-up, director Emile Ardolino instructed them to improvise. When it comes to the scene where Baby laughs as Johnny glides his fingers down her arm, Grey was ticklish, and those giggles were real — and so was Swayze's frustration. "Both of them brought so much every day," Ortega told PEOPLE in 2017. "Sometimes, it was conflict; sometimes it was love. There was something there between the two of them that was unexplainable. They were human fireworks." Snap/Shutterstock The film was set at Kellerman's Resort, based on the real-life popular vacation spotGrossinger's Catskill Resort Hotelin Liberty, N.Y., that closed in 1986. However,Dirty Dancingwas produced on a tight budget of $4.5 million and couldn't afford to work in the Catskills, so they filmed in Virginia and North Carolina instead. Fans can still visitMountain Lake Lodgein Pembroke, Va., where much of the filming took place. The lodge hosts self-guidedDirty Dancingtours and an annualDirty Dancing Dayssummer festival.Visit North Carolinaalso provides information on how to visit filming locations around Lake Lure. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Actress Lynne Lipton was originally cast as Baby and Lisa Houseman's (Jane Brucker) mother, Marjorie Houseman, andKelly Bishopwas set to portray Vivian Pressman, an older, married resort guest with a crush on Johnny. Lipton got sick right before filming, so theGilmore Girlsstar took on the role of Mrs. Houseman — oppositeJerry Orbachas Baby and Lisa's father, Jake Houseman — at the last minute. Assistant choreographer Miranda Garrison would later pull double duty as Vivian. "That switcheroo was so bizarre that I thought I really must do this," BishoptoldThe Guardianin 2024. getty ThoughDirty Dancingtook place in the summer, the movie was filmed in autumn. Leaves were changing colors and had to be spray-painted green, and the lake water was so frigid that the actors' mouths turned blue. Between takes, they tried to keep warm by staying wrapped in blankets. "It was fall in North Carolina, and that water was really cold," Ortega told PEOPLE. "Jennifer actually got hypothermia." vestron "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" has become such a classic line that it's nearly as famous as the film itself. However, not everyone is attached to those six words — including the screenwriter. "I think it's really something that I was not deeply committed to. I don't think it's a great phrase," Bergstein said onThe Movies That Made Us, adding that Swayze "thought it was the stupidest line in the world, and I think he was right." Bergstein's fellow crew weren't sold on the one-liner either, citing everything from it being "ridiculous" to the fact that there wasn't a corner but a pillar behind Baby. As for Swayze, hetold the American Film Institutethat he "hated that line," revealing that he "didn't understand what was behind it." "When I went up and said that to her, I truly believed it," he said. "But up until that point, and up until I found that background and that passion as an actor, I hated that line and I was going to do anything in my power to get it cut." Vestron/Kobal/Shutterstock When a national sponsor was set to come on board, Bergstein was asked to cut the subplot of Johnny's first dance partner, Penny Johnson (Cynthia Rhodes), getting an illegal abortion. The screenwriter refused, telling the producers that "everything will fall apart" if she did so, as the storyline was integral to Baby meeting Johnny and all the dominoes that fell from there. The sponsorship fell through, and Bergstein didn't compromise on getting political and social issues embedded into her film. "My sense is if you're going to put something like this in, you better rhythm it so precisely into the plot that when the day comes — I sound likeThe Godfather, the day will come — when they ask you to take it out, you can't without the movie falling apart. Because if it can be taken out, it will be," Bergstein toldCosmopolitan. Alamy Swayze refused to use a body double while filming, including during the scene when Johnny and Baby dance on a log. Filmmakers acknowledged that it was dangerous, as a ravine was underneath it. "He fell, he hurt himself, we lost time on production, and everybody suffered in the end," Gottlieb said onThe Movies That Made Us. According toTIME, Swayze had to have fluid drained from his knee. The fall ended up not only aggravating Swayze's chronic knee pain and delaying filming, but it also made the final dance all the more difficult for him, as he had to jump off a stage multiple times to get the final take. Vestron/Kobal/Shutterstock Grey was "too scared" of the finale's big lift and opted out of practicing it. "I only did it on the day I shot it," GreytoldThe Guardianin 2015. "Never rehearsed it, never done it since." Shetold E! Newsin 2024 that she gave a "hard no" to running through the move because back then, she was "really scared and protective" of her body. Yet when it came down to it, Grey had no choice but to, well, film. "If you've ever tried it, you'd understand what it means to do it," she told the outlet. "It was one of those game-day things." In 2017, Ortega told PEOPLE, "Because she was an untrained dancer, the lifts were actually big moments for her personally. She was aspiring to do them as an individual, not just as a character.She brought that to the role, and her reactions were so genuine and honest." Grey later incorporated elements of the climactic end lift and other choreography whilecompeting alongside dance propartnerDerek Houghduring a freestyle number on season 11 ofDancing with the Starsin 2010. Read the original article onPeople
