Jennifer Grey Was Worried “Dirty Dancing ”Would Be a 'Glorified Porno' — Why She Said Yes Anyway

Grey's turn as Baby cemented her spot in Hollywood history

Dirty Dancing might be a romance classic now, but Jennifer Grey actually had a lot of apprehensions before signing on.

On the Dec. 20 episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast hosted by Scott Feinberg, Grey talked about why she decided to star in the 1987 film despite some major apprehensions.

“I remember being in my agent's office and seeing the breakdown [and] saying, ‘I have to get this part,’ ” Grey, 64, remembered. Part of her interest was because it was a “low-budget movie,” which was not common at the time. The budget was just $4.5 million, and Grey was paid $50,000. 

“And it kind of was a little risky,” the A Real Pain star said. “It kind of felt like, it's called Dirty Dancing. The sex scenes are described quite explicitly, and there's no money for me or the movie. Maybe it's just a glorified porno.” 

But she was also excited about working with director Emile Ardolino, who was mostly a documentary director. “He was he was one of the reasons the movie worked, because of his sensibility,” she said. “I trusted his ability to see truthfulness.”

Grey, who was the first person cast, also felt apprehensive about starring with Patrick Swayze. They had previously appeared together in 1984’s Red Dawn, and Grey felt he had treated her poorly.  

Related: Can You Believe Dirty Dancing Turns 37 Today? See a Glowing Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey at the 1987 Premiere

And Swayze agreed. Grey said on the podcast that when the actor — who died in 2009 at age 57 — came to dance with her for the first time, he said, “I'm sorry. I know you don't want me for this, and just know that I love you. I've always loved you.”

“And I was like, ‘Fine. Whatever.’ And then we're kind of both crying and hugging, and then we come in and then we dance,” she remembered. “And I was like, ‘Oh God, It has to be him because nobody else could lead and dance like that,' and he was the perfect partner for me.” And so it was set: Grey was thoughtful, introverted Baby, and Swayze was sexy, emotional Johnny.

Filming the movie itself was “grueling” for Grey because she was in every scene and had never been a lead before. Now she was the “lead in a low-budget movie where you have to dance and rehearse and shoot really fast. It was rough, and we had really tough weather.”

But, she said, “I learned that very often, the more stressful and the less money you have and the less time you have, it creates a synergy that is very, very conducive to making magic.” 

Back in 2022, Grey released her memoir, Out of the Corner. She opened up about her relationship with Swayze to PEOPLE at the time, explaining, "The same way Baby and Johnny were not supposed to be together … a natural match, right? And we weren't a natural match. And the fact that we needed to be a natural match created a tension. Because normally when someone's not a natural, you … both people move on, but we were forced to be together. And our being forced to be together created a kind of a synergy, or like a friction.”

“I actually just had a thought about Patrick,” she continued. “I feel like if I could say anything to him now I would say, 'I'm so sorry that I couldn't just appreciate and luxuriate in who you were, instead of me wishing you were more like what I wanted you to be.' "