14 Odd Facts About What Happened On The Set Of ‘Dirty Dancing’

5. Jennifer Grey had to prove to the casting directors that she could play a younger woman. Her role of Baby was actually a whole 10 years younger than the actress’s real age. She had five minutes to prove it in her audition, and she did.

Oh man, did you have any idea that Grey was so much older than her character? It is crazy just how much a person can change the way they look by changing the clothes they wear, how they speak, and their body language.

Jennifer Grey’s portrayal of Baby as a relatively naïve teenager is absolutely believable. It used to be the norm for much older actors to play teenagers—just look at the cast of Grease if you’re in doubt. Nowadays, Hollywood is more likely to cast younger actors to fill roles of any age. Sometimes that works for the film, but diehard Dirty Dancing fans will argue it’s a good thing it didn’t happen here!

6. After the success of the first film, studios wanted to cash in on a sequel. Swayze was offered $6 million to return to the screen as Johnny, but he really wasn’t a fan of doing sequels and he ended up declining the offer.

Sometimes, as much as certain movies are major hits beloved by everyone who sees them, there is no reason to try and repeat the success of the first film. The studios don’t often agree and are tempted to cash in on the success of their big hits.

Swayze was probably convinced that it would be impossible to capture lightning in a bottle with a second film. Of course, it was for the best, because most fans agreed with him! When a sequel to the film was made years later—dubbed Dirty Dancing Havana Nights—it was completely unrelated to the original classic. In fact, the only thing it seemed to share with the original were the words “Dirty Dancing” in the title.

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