Patrick Swayze’s Widow Lisa Swayze Reacts to Dirty Dancing Sequel

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Dirty Dancing fans will certainly have the time of their lives with the upcoming sequel. 

The new film pays tribute to the original star, Patrick Swayze, who sadly passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2009 at the age of 57, and his wife, Lisa Niemi Swayze, is pleased with how he’s remembered.

In a recent interview with Us Weekly, published on April 18th, the 69-year-old revealed they had read the script and found it deeply touching.

Lisa, who was married to Patrick from 1975 until he passed away, said she appreciated how the script portrayed his character, Johnny Castle.

She added that she was eager to see how things turned out and wished them well. They’ve put a lot of effort into it, and she’s excited to finally see the results.

Patrick isn’t the only one excited about the movie! Jennifer Grey, who starred alongside him in the original Dirty Dancing, will be returning as Frances “Baby” Houseman in the new sequel.

Jennifer said in a statement last January that playing Baby has always been very special to her, and to many fans as well.

The 66-year-old has often thought about what happened to Baby and imagined what her life would be like years later. He also explained that it took a while to find the right team he trusted to continue the story started by the original film.

Okay, so I was SO thrilled when Patrick Swayze briefly came back for Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights – even just seeing him again was amazing! It absolutely breaks my heart that he won’t be in this new one, but honestly, his legend will always live on. I mean, come on, who doesn’t remember that lift? It’s the most iconic movie moment ever, and it’ll always remind me of him and the original Dirty Dancing!

But amateur dancers should proceed with caution.

In 2024, Jennifer told TopMob News that Patrick was the best person to attempt this, explaining that he was a remarkably talented ballet dancer.

She explained that he was incredibly strong and accustomed to carrying women. By the movie’s conclusion, she felt she could completely rely on him.

Even though he was strong, Jennifer was especially worried about this move. She confessed that she and Patrick had only practiced the lift once, during the filming of the famous lake scene.

“I never rehearsed it,” Jennifer explained. “There was no room for a panic attack.”

Jennifer remembered feeling very scared and wanting to protect her body, so she firmly refused to rehearse the dance move when they weren’t filming.

She explained that anyone who had tried it would understand, playfully adding she felt she had no other option but to do it while being filmed. She described it as a spontaneous decision made in the moment.

For more Dirty Dancing secrets, keep reading.

Screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein shared with Cosmo in 2017 that the movie Dirty Dancing nearly had a different title – I Was a Teenage Mambo Queen. This was because Canadian border officials initially held up the film’s early footage, mistakenly believing it was a pornographic film, based on its title.

Before Patrick Swayze landed the iconic role of dance instructor Johnny Castle, several other actors were in the running, including Billy Zane, Benicio Del Toro, and Val Kilmer. Swayze ultimately got the part thanks to his extensive dance training with prestigious schools like Harkness and Joffrey Ballet, and the role launched him to superstardom.

Patrick Swayze nearly didn’t take the role in Dirty Dancing because of a bad knee injury he’d suffered while performing on Broadway. He’d even listed “no dancing” on his resume, indicating he couldn’t perform it.

Before Jennifer Grey landed the role of Baby, both Sarah Jessica Parker and Winona Ryder tried out for the part. Grey later told The New York Times she earned $50,000 for her work in the movie.

Grey, who wasn’t a professional dancer, confessed she was scared to dance with Swayze, even though they had previously worked together on the movie Red Dawn.

Jennifer Grey described Patrick Swayze as a fantastic and daring dancer. In a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she explained that their contrasting personalities – his boldness and her cautiousness, even extending to their different backgrounds – created a dynamic like a marriage of opposites. He was willing to try anything, while she tended to be afraid.

At first, the two main actors didn’t get along, frequently disagreeing about how to approach their performances.

In his 2009 autobiography, The Time of My Life, Swayze described how she was very sensitive and would often cry if anyone offered criticism. He also noted that she had a playful side, sometimes breaking into laughter during scenes and requiring them to reshoot them multiple times.

Choreographer Kenny Ortega drew inspiration from the real-life relationship between the actors to create the believable chemistry between Johnny and Baby in the film.

They both brought a lot of energy and emotion to every interaction,” Ortega shared with People magazine in 2017. “Sometimes it was tension, sometimes affection, but there was an undeniable connection between them. They were like a captivating display of fireworks – unpredictable and intensely human.

The film’s famous lift scene in the lake proved to be a key moment for Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, bringing them closer together as they worked through the challenging sequence.

In his autobiography, Swayze described the lake as shockingly cold and recalled filming the scene repeatedly. He explained that even though Jennifer Grey was petite, lifting someone in the water made her feel incredibly heavy – like she weighed 500 pounds.

All their effort paid off. In her 2022 memoir, Out of the Corner, Grey explained that she deliberately waited to perform the famous lift until they filmed the movie’s final dance scene, and she was thrilled when they finally nailed it with Swayze.

She explained that the connection we witnessed in that scene was genuine. It was a true display of thankfulness, respect, and affection. She questioned, “If that isn’t love, then what is?”

The famous scene where Baby giggles as Johnny lightly traces her arm wasn’t planned. Grey was genuinely ticklish, and Swayze’s frustrated reaction was completely authentic.

Bergstein explained to Cosmo that they had forgotten about the footage. They reshot the scene without the laughter, and it wasn’t until the editor discovered the original clip that they remembered it existed. Everyone – the team, Jennifer, and Patrick – found it hilarious when they saw it, and they decided to include it because it was so funny.

The role of Baby’s mother was first given to Lynne Lipton, but Kelly Bishop took over after Lipton got sick during the first week of filming. Bishop was originally cast as Vivian Pressman, a guest at the resort who was attracted to Johnny. Miranda Garrison, who worked as an assistant choreographer on the film, then played the part of Vivian instead.

Originally, sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer was going to play the role of Mrs. Schumacher. However, she decided not to take the part after finding out her character was the one stealing from the resort.

Producers requested that Bergstein remove Penny’s abortion storyline to attract a corporate sponsor, but she wouldn’t agree.

The writer admitted they’d always anticipated this outcome. They’d tried to explain that removing a key element would ruin the entire narrative, causing it to collapse and lose all meaning. However, the others responded that it should have been considered earlier, and ultimately, they decided against making the change.

Bergstein says that after seeing the first version of the movie, some producers weren’t very confident it would succeed.

In a 2017 interview with Today, she shared that producer Aaron Ross advised them to destroy the original film and collect the insurance money, adding that everyone kept telling them the footage was worthless.

The film’s soundtrack was incredibly popular, staying at number one on the Billboard charts for over four months and selling over 14 million copies. The song “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” even won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Jane Brucker, who played Lisa, Baby’s somewhat scattered older sister, actually wrote and performed the song “Hula Hana” during the talent show rehearsal scene in the movie.

Patrick Swayze co-wrote and performed the song “She’s Like the Wind,” but it wasn’t originally for Dirty Dancing. It was first intended for the soundtrack of his 1984 comedy, Grandview, U.S.A. Rob Lowe shared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020 that Swayze also tried to include the song in their 1986 film, Youngbloods.

As a huge fan, I always get a kick out of spotting Matthew Broderick in the very last scene of the movie! He was dating Jennifer Grey when it was filmed, and he makes a quick, uncredited appearance as just one of the people watching the talent show. It’s a fun little detail that most people miss!

18. Dirty Dancing became the first film to sell more than a million copies for home video.

A prequel titled Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights came out in 2004. Later, in 2015, a television remake featuring Abigail Breslin as Baby was broadcast.

In 2020, TopMob News reported that Jennifer Grey would be both producing and starring in a remake of Dirty Dancing. Grey recently told The Los Angeles Times that she will reprise her role as Baby in the new film, though the plot details remain undisclosed.

She explained she was fascinated by exploring the story’s impact 30 years later, in the 1990s. She wanted to see how the original character had changed and what new meaning the story held when viewed from a modern perspective.

Grey also confirmed the movie will be released Valentine’s Day 2024.

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2026-04-20 22:48