Jennifer Grey Admits to Being 'So Scared' to Shoot Famous Lift in 'Dirty Dancing' (VIDEO)
The lift seen around the world literally terrified actress Jennifer Grey, star of the 1980s hit movie, "Dirty Dancing." Grey has opened up about the experience of filming one of the most iconic scenes with Patrick Swayze and overcoming her fears.
"I'd never done the lift before I did the lift at the end of the movie," Grey told Yahoo. "I would refuse to rehearse it because I was so scared. The only time I've ever done it was when the cameras were rolling. I didn't even do a rehearsal of it; I was terrified. I just didn't have any choice. I had to do it," she revealed.
Grey and Swayze somehow managed to perfect their dance routine and make film history. The routine, set to "The Time of My Life," has been performed across the world and has spurred an off-shoot, "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights." Devoted fans have kept the film popular, and in 2010, the film celebrated its 20th anniversary.
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Patrick Swayze, Grey's co-star, passed away in 2009 after a battle with cancer. He had been trained as a dancer, while Grey was a newcomer.
"I had just taken ballet class as a little girl, you know, like Saturday mornings. They were casting someone who had never moved her body in her life," she told Yahoo.
Swazye "was fearless," Grey told Access Hollywood. "The war he waged on his cancer was so courageous and dignified. When I think of him, I think of being in his arms when we were kids, dancing, practicing the lift in the freezing lake, having a blast doing this tiny little move we thought no one would ever see."
She was only 27 when "Dirty Dancing" gave her a huge break in Hollywood.
"It was definitely a big turning point in terms of putting me on the map and being somebody who was a bit of a household name," she explained. "That changed everything in that sense, and in the sense that people just treat me with so much love and warmth when they greet me."
Of course, fans had a hard time accepting Grey's new look after she had surgery to fix her nose. Slowly, though, people have come around and Grey is back at work.
"I think people have such a nice association with the movie that I just get all this warm love showered on me. It's just a lovely dividend," she gushed.
Watch the famous lift scene here:
