Jennifer Grey Says Patrick Swayze Was "Drunk" and "Unprofessional" When They Filmed a Sex Scene Together

"When they started talking about him for 'Dirty Dancing,' I was like, 'Oh, oh no, anybody but him.'"

Jennifer Grey wears a black dress while holding a dance pose with Patrick Swayze, her Dirty Dancing co-star who is wearing a tuxedo, as they stand in front of an Oscar statue
(Image credit: Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze's chemistry in 1987's Dirty Dancing was off the charts. However, their experience working together on Red Dawn, a movie released three years prior to their big romantic hit film, was a totally different story.

While speaking on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast (via Entertainment Weekly), Grey reflected on filming a sex scene with the heartthrob for 1984's Red Dawn. "We were in this, you know, sleeping bag and he, I guess, was nervous or whatever," she explained. "And he came into the sleeping bag drunk, and he didn't know his lines. And then it got cut. And they said, 'We'll come back and reshoot it.' But of course they didn't."

But it wasn't just Swayze who was off his game while filming the intimate scene. "I was smoking a lot of weed in those days, too, and so I was super paranoid, and I was scared," Grey told the podcast hosts. "I didn't sleep the whole night. So when I went in to shoot my big love scene, my big death-scene love scene, romantic scene with him, I was so angry because I was all self-righteous. I was like, 'How dare you be so unprofessional?'"

Jennifer Grey lies on Patrick Swayze's chest in a scene from Dirty Dancing

"When they started talking about him for Dirty Dancing, I was like, 'Oh, oh no, anybody but him.'"

(Image credit: Getty Images)

According to Grey, the entire experience of filming Red Dawn was fraught, and she didn't seem to enjoy working on the movie, at all. "I didn't get to sleep, and I was anxious and felt like it was a problem," she explained. Grey continued, "By the time that movie was over, I was like, 'This guy is not professional. He is killing me.'"

As a result of her negative experience working with Swayze on the 1984 flick, she was apprehensive about co-starring opposite him in Dirty Dancing. Grey explained, "And then when they started talking about him for Dirty Dancing, I was like, 'Oh, oh no, anybody but him.'" Luckily, their second collaboration appeared to be a lot smoother than the first.

patrick swayze and jennifer grey practicing in a dance studio and leaning in to kiss in the movie dirty dancing

"I was so angry because I was all self-righteous. I was like, 'How dare you be so unprofessional?'"

(Image credit: Vestron Pictures)

Grey was also asked to discuss the rumored Dirty Dancing sequel, which has allegedly been in the works for quite some time.

"They have been adamant about making it, and I have been adamant about respecting the original, out of respect to Patrick," Grey explained on the podcast.

She continued, "There is no way that I'm going to be part of it unless it feels true. And what I mean by true is, it has to feel like it is about the original intent with the same clarity of vision about important things. And giving someone a great experience and that feel-good feeling—that feel-good vibe that people watch it because it makes them feel seen and alive."

Amy Mackelden
Contributing Editor

Amy Mackelden is a contributing editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.