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

7. There is one scene where Johnny and Baby are dancing in the woods. Since the film was shot in October, the leaves on the surrounding trees were actually changing color by this point. The crew had to spray paint the leaves green to give the impression that the plot was taking place in the summer season of upstate New York.

It’s completely surprising to rewatch the movie after you learn details like this about how the crew had to spray paint the leaves to convince the audience that it was summertime when Johnny and Baby practiced outside on the log. You would’ve never guessed that it was Fall at all!

It is not uncommon in Hollywood to pay meticulous attention to details like these in the hopes of creating something that isn’t exactly as it appears to be. It used to be a common technique in Hollywood to shoot nighttime scenes in the daytime; this way, directors and producers could save lots of money on the expensive costs of night shoots. Spray-painting trees takes it to a new level!

8. In the original film, the dance that Johnny and Baby perform during the love scene wasn’t supposed to be in the final cut—it was only meant to be what Swayze and Grey performed for the film’s screen test. However, the director liked it so much that he kept it.

In fact, it was the steamy dance the duo improvised together during their respective screen tests that initially sold the movie’s producers to cast Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze to play the lead roles of Johnny and Baby in the first place! It only makes sense that, once they cast the two actors, that they would try to work in the scene that they had all found so compelling.

Where else would you find chemistry like that? It is a good thing they did, too; the famous love scene between Baby and Johnny comes at a climactic point in the film. If they had just embraced instead of dancing, it would be a very, very different movie.

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