After years of silence, Jennifer Grey, who played Baby in Dirty Dancing, finally spoke out about the fatal car accident that occurred between Matthew Broderick and her in 1987 that killed two women in May of 2022.
According to the author of Out of the Corner, when she spoke to Entertainment Tonight about the crash that occurred on a rainy night in Ireland while Broderick was driving and the actress was a passenger, she was the only surviving witness because Matthew had survived but was unconscious, had amnesia, and was very badly injured. (At the time of filming Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the two actors played romantically involved characters.)
I honestly believed he was gone,” Grey elaborated. I had no idea there were two other women killed in the same incident. You can never be the same again after experiencing that.
According to the Red Dawn actor, the head-on collision was “top three traumas in my life, maybe top one.”
The fatal accident, which occurred a few days before Dirty Dancing was released, altered Grey’s life inexorably. She went on to say that it was “very hard to describe” what it was like to have a near-death experience and to witness the deaths of others. For example: “It was pretty terrifying to be out on a country road in the middle of nowhere and see no other living beings. In retrospect, I can see how that one thing paved the way for many others in my life.
Grey Stated That Tragedy Is Always On Her Mind
In addition, “I wasn’t withholding any information that people seem to think I was because they wanted an answer and there was no answer because it was an accident,” she clarified. “Moreover, [Broderick] was an excellent chauffeur, and no one in the group was inebriated. Everything that happened, happened by chance. What happened in Ireland to that family was tragic, and I often think about them.”
In 1988, Grey and Broderick ended their relationship. As a next step, Grey went on a blind date with Johnny Depp. The couple was together for a full year, including an engagement and subsequent breakup.
“Because we were so young at the time… This guy seemed like the solution to all of my issues at the time. He was gorgeous, sweet, loving, romantic, and completely smitten with me. I really needed to get back to a state where I looked and felt like Johnny Depp from 1989 “In an interview with ET, she revealed some information. “This was a very gentle landing, believe me. In order to do so, it was essential. I was dying on the inside and he stopped the bleeding by making me… numb.”
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Depp is currently in the middle of a defamation trial against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, and Grey accuses him in her book of being “crazy jealous and paranoid.” As previously reported, ET attempted to contact Depp for his thoughts.
Just hearing about that trial makes my heart hurt for everyone involved,” Grey said. I hope everything works out for everyone involved.
Her Father, Joel Grey, Was Another Influential Male Figure In Her Life
“My father has always had the undivided support of his biggest fan, me. When I was a kid, he was my idol and my whole world. Simply put, he has a very active imagination, and as an artist, I have the utmost respect for that “She spoke glowingly of her father, who won an Academy Award. To be himself and do what he wants to do has always been second nature to him.
She went on to say, “For me, pride doesn’t cover it” when describing her reaction to his public coming out as gay. “To be oneself and claim one’s history, regardless of whether others approve, disdain, hate, or resort to violence, is a right everyone has. My heart ached at the thought of how long he had to wait to be set free, but I’m glad it finally happened.”
Grey also shared with ET what she’d tell Patrick Swayze in the event that he was still alive. She reflected on her time spent with the late co-star of Dirty Dancing and revealed the things she wishes she could tell him now that he is no longer with us. In 2009, Swayze lost his fight against cancer and passed away.
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She wanted to tell the late actor, who played Johnny Castle in the film, “Look what we did,” as Grey put it. “To put it another way, if I were to sit where he would be right now and he were to sit where I am right now, we would both be very young children. The ability to look back and say, “Look, we did something crazy,” from such a vantage point. As challenging as it was, we prevailed.”
The Chemistry Between Them Is What Made Dirty Dancing Such A Popular Film
Grey gushed, “I love that it has had such a lasting, powerful, emotional impact on people watching it generations later, 35 years later.” “Nobody seemed to be anticipating anything. There was a widespread lack of confidence that anyone would notice it. Of course, I’m awed and moved by the response.”
With the announcement of a new Dirty Dancing film in 2020, Grey is hoping to evoke a similar response. However, Grey did hint that “Baby as an adult could find herself possibly feeling similarly in a corner again, and [have to figure out] how to get herself out of the way,” without giving any further information about the project.
“I can’t give away too much… Feeling elated, “that’s what she said. “I look forward to the difficulty… It’s already a huge ordeal to make a movie without Patrick. Neither can nor should this film ever aspire to be that one. If I have anything to do with it, it will be its own movie.”
In response to a question about when the movie would be released, Grey said, “A track supports it. Now, more than ever, it’s on the right track. It’s as real as it gets right now.”
Grey’s two rhinoplasty procedures after Dirty Dancing’s success also had a profound impact on her development as a person.
“I made an effort to lighten up on myself. A minor cosmetic procedure that has bothered me for over 30 years is embarrassing to discuss “that’s what she said. “… All I wanted was an explanation for why I felt so helpless and alone in this unbelievably desolate place. The story kept the audience’s attention and kept them invested throughout. It was strange to be misunderstood on a global scale.”
Final Words
Grey claimed, “One of the most enlightening experiences of my life was writing this book.” “Even though I have a good idea of what went down in my life, the fact that I had to go back and reevaluate the highs and lows made me realize that perhaps I don’t have a complete picture of what transpired. Let me go back and check to see if the way I was told it and the way I have been telling it for so long are both accurate.”
