Thirty-five years ago this Sunday, thousands of Americans went to see a little rom-com calledDirty Dancing.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I hope you’re not tired of talking aboutDirty Dancing.
JENNIFER GREY:I actually am not.
Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in ‘Dirty Dancing’.Vestron/Kobal/Shutterstock
Because there are so many layers to this movie.
There is so much goodness under what feels like a fluffy rom-com fairytale.
We were writing about abortion and illegal abortions.
Cynthia Rhodes and Patrick Swayze in ‘Dirty Dancing’.Lionsgate
It’s pretty heavy duty.
So then I think, “Well, what is there here?”
And then I just start to go deeper.
Jennifer Grey and Max Cantor in ‘Dirty Dancing’.Lionsgate
And I realize the movie is giving me more, the more I ask of it.
Do you recall any discussions about it on set when you were making the film?
My memory’s not perfect because it was so long ago, but I have no memory of that.
Baby Houseman (Jennifer Grey) has her mind blown.Lionsgate
What Eleanor gave us was this very deep scaffolding.
It’s a feminist movie, but it’s very stealth.
These Catskills resorts were created because Jews were not welcome in many of the other resorts.
Out of the Corner by Jennifer Grey Publisher : Ballantine Books.
This whole culture was developed to give Jews a place to go.
But they are not Jewish, and they are “the help.”
There’s a lot of interestingUpstairs, Downstairsgoing on.
And here we are with Baby’s dad, who is a first-rate doctor.
That’s what she was bred to do.
To me, there’s some genius to the way Eleanor constructed the plot.
There’s a lot there.
It’s terrifying, and it feels so real.
It’s the last thing you think you’re going to see in this movie.
They don’t have [a fully developed] prefrontal cortex and they won’t for years.
I can’t think of too many rom-coms that have this much grist for the mill.
Had you read Ayn Rand’s book when you made the movie?
I can’t remember.
It wasn’t my thing.
I knew what the reference was.
The scene just really establishes her values and how she was raised, and how he was raised.
She has this deep desire to speak up.
It literally was like, “Oh, no, that’snevergonna happen.”
There was no runner-up.
I was like, “No, it’s not.”
She goes, “Yes, it is.”
I was like, “Okay?”
[Laughs]
Let’s talk about “I carried a watermelon.”
Baby’s awkward declaration is one of the most famous lines in the movie.
Why do you think people connect so strongly to this moment?
You just wanna die or have a trap door open.
That feeling, that human feeling, is so universal.
Now he’ll see I’m worse than he thought.
I’m like a freaking idiot."
That self-sabotage, like, “Oh God, he can see what a geek I am.
Your daughter, Stella, is now in her early 20s.
Has she seen the movie?
And if so, what did she think of it?
I think she saw it once.
She did not like and it and did not want to watch it again.
I don’t know if she ever watched it again.
[Laughs] She did not want see me dancing withanybodybut Daddy and it bugged her.
She read my book, and that was the biggest thing for me.
And she goes, “Mom, I’m so proud of you.”
I was like, “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
In April, Lionsgate announced that you’d be returning for the “next chapter” ofDirty Dancing.
What’s the latest on this project?
I can’t tell you much, sadly, but I will tell you that it will involve Baby.
It will involve Kellerman’s.
There will be music.
Unless there’s a lot of CGI, Baby’s going to be a little older.
[Laughs] It’s going to be Kellerman’s, music, dancing, love story, romance.
I’m just so super committed and invested in making it a fresh [take].
What happened happened, and that will never happen again.
There will never be another Johnny.
There will never be another Patrick.
This sequel has got to be its own standalone piece.
It’s very tricky.
Is there a script?
There’s a script, we’re working on the script.
So, I guess it’s happening!
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
