Dirty Dancing SECRETS FROM THE SET

JENNIFER GREY LOOKS BACK AT THE TROUBLES AND TRIUMPHS OF CREATING AN AMERICAN FILM CLASSIC

- Katie Bruno

Nobody puts Dirty Dancing in a corner! When it premiered 35 years ago this August, this nostalgic coming-of-age tale set at a Catskills summer resort in 1963, became a sensation. The film raked in $214 million worldwide, with some fans (dubbed the 100-plus club) returning to movie theaters to relive its love story again and again.

Jennifer Grey, who played Frances "Baby" Houseman, to Patrick Swayze's dance instructor Johnny Castle, still marvels at how everything came together. "There's magic in that movie," she tells Closer exclusively. "It was this confluence of events that created this lightning-in-a-bottle feeling."

But back in 1987, few had high expectations for Dirty Dancing's success. The film's most recognizable star, Patrick, was advised not to do the movie. Jennifer, meanwhile, was just elated to be cast as the film's lead over more established actresses Sharon Stone, Winona Ryder and Sarah Jessica Parker. "All of a sudden, I was doing a part that felt it was made for me," she remembers. "And I was so grateful."