10 things you didn't know about Dirty Dancing

SEEN Dirty Dancing more times than you'd like to admit? Here are 10 things you might not know about one of the most romantic films of all time.

Dirty Dancing, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, is one of the most popular films of all time.

IT HAS been 26 years since one little movie with an irresistible soundtrack, magnetic pair of leads and super romantic dialogue made its mark on movie history.

We've all probably watched Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey having the time of their lives more times than we'd like to admit. But here are 10 things you might not know about the film, according to BuzzFeed.

1) Val Kilmer was actually offered the role of Johnny but turned it down.News_Image_File: We wonder if Val Kilmer is still kicking himself that he turned down the lead male role. 2) Sarah Jessica Parker auditioned for the role of Baby but director Emile Ardolino wasn't impressed with her dancing skills.News_Image_File: Nobody puts Sarah Jessica Parker in the corner? Directors did. Picture: Supplied

3) Patrick Swayze wasn't even the second choice for Johnny. Billy Zane was but he and Jennifer Grey weren't convincing during the dance scenes.News_Image_File: Billy Zane couldn't shake it as well as Patrick Swayze. Picture: Supplied

4) There are no close-ups in the lake scene because it was filmed in October and their lips were blue. "It was horrifyingly, hypothermically cold in that lake, and we filmed that scene over and over," Swayze admitted in an interview years later.

News_Image_File: Swayze hated filming this scene because he had to lift Grey repeatedly in the freezing water.

5) This famous scene was off the cuff. Jennifer and Patrick were trying to warm up by goofing around on the floor. The director loved it so much that he included it in the film.News_Image_File: Swayze and Grey were just fooling around here, but the director loved it. Picture: Supplied

6) Jennifer Grey was 10 years older than her character and had just five minutes to prove that she could play a 17-year-old.

News_Image_File: Jennifer Grey was first thought to be too easily recognisable from her role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

7) The song She's Like the Wind was actually sung by Patrick Swayze and co-written by Swayze and Stacy Widelitz.

News_Rich_Media: She's Like The Wind

8) The story was inspired by screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's own life. Bergstein's family would visit the Catskills resort during the 1960s, she was called 'Baby' until she was 22, and learned how to dirty dance at house parties.News_Image_File: Eleanor Bergstein, left, with actress Kym Valentine, who played the lead role of Baby in the 2006 Dirty Dancing musical. Picture: Derek More9) Despite their onscreen chemistry, Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze at times had a very fractious relationship which made filming difficult. "She seemed particularly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticised her. Other times, she slipped into silly moods, forcing us to do scenes over and over again when she'd start laughing," Swayze said of Grey in his autobiography, The Time Of My Life.

News_Image_File: Jennifer Grey (Francis 'Baby' Houseman)

10) The movie was re-released in 1997 because Conan O'Brien asked viewers to send letters demanding its re-release. The US talk show host called it the "best movie of all time."News_Image_File: Conan O'Brien campaigned back in the nineties to get Dirty Dancing re-released. Picture: Timothy White