"I Wish I Could Tell Him:" Jennifer Grey Reveals A Changed Perspective On Patrick Swayze

May 21, 2022 by apost team

"Dirty Dancing" was one of the biggest surprise film hits of the 1980s, and it catapulted its two stars — Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey — into the limelight. But while Swayze went on to have an illustrious career after, Grey receded from the spotlight. The film's incredible success was unexpected, which made their instant fame trickier to navigate. Regardless, the movie lives on as one of Hollywood's standout hits from the '80s and continues to be a fan favorite. 

The movie propelled Swayze to fame, who continued his meteoric rise when he starred in other classics of the era, including "Road House," "Ghost," and "Point Break." He became a household name and one of Hollywood's leading heartthrobs. He continued to work all through the '90s and '20s until, sadly, he passed away from liver cancer in 2009. 

Meanwhile, Grey left the spotlight in the decade following the film's release. She didn't open up about why that was the case until much later. After more than three decades after "Dirty Dancing" came out, Grey opened up about a tragic car accident that changed the course of her life. She took the time she needed to heal and find her passion for acting again, and she did eventually get back out in the spotlight.

After a long pause, Grey was ready and picked up her career again. In recent years she's made a comeback after she appeared on "Dancing With the Stars," which she won. Now, she's continued to act on-air. However, due to her career pause, she and Swayze never spent more time around each other professionally. Coming out with her memoir, "Out of the Corner," Grey reveals what she wished she could have told her co-star before he died.

Most well known for her role in "Dirty Dancing," Grey was beloved by everyone. The chemistry between Swayze and Grey's characters was the love story for the ages yet the two actors never dated. Although many fans hoped the stars would date in reality, the two never got together. In fact, Swayze and Grey were both already happily married back then. Acting as a star-struck couple called forth all the acting skills of the young actors.

In an exclusive with People in 2022 Grey opened up about the two's honest chemistry. 

"The same way Baby and Johnny were not supposed to be together … a natural match, right? And we weren't a natural match," Grey said. 

"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," she added.

Grey also mentioned that not only was there no chemistry, but both stars also had significant others. "And the weird thing was, it's like, "What's wrong with me?" I mean, I was not lacking. And he was married. and very in love with his wife. Whatever he was doing, I was not… I was very busy with Matthew. Like, what could be more different?"

However, Grey said she still has fond memories of working together. "I actually just had a thought about Patrick. 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," she said. 

In a sitdown with The American Film Insitute in 2009, Swayze opened up about Grey's work ethic as an actress. 

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"Jennifer Grey if you've watched her career at all shes an incredibly available actress. She goes- ya know what you strive for as an actor is do all this work, do the history, find the subtext, find the subtleties, find out the protections a character puts up to insolate itself. Yet when the camera rolls you have to have the courage to throw all that work out the window and let magic happen, let something special happen. The only way you do that is be who you are in that moment, at this moment in time— Jennifer Grey is truly gifted at that," Swayze said. 

Grey is gifted indeed. She has recently opened up to Tamron Hall on the "Tamron Hall Show," and said if she could speak to Swayze now, she would apologize.

"I wish I could tell him I'm sorry for the times I was judgemental, or ball busting, for not treating him with more empathy and compassion, for not trusting that a man would actually show up for me," she wrote in her memoir and shared on the show. 

The star went on to say she wished she could tell him so much more. "I wish I could tell what I know now. That I was so scared and in over my head. I wish I could tell him how lucky I feel to to have had him as Baby's one and only Johnny," she shared. 

With her memoir out for purchase and making press appearances— Grey announced iconic news. Sitting down with Drew Barrymore she confirmed that a sequel to "Dirty Dancing," will be coming out.  

Are you as excited as us to hear that a sequel to "Dirty Dancing" will be coming out?! If you cannot wait for that film to premiere— make sure to send this article to friends and family who will be excited too!