TV Guide Network to Air Unseen Swayze Interview
Patrick Swayze
TV Guide Network will air a special on Patrick Swayze featuring a never-before broadcast interview of the Dirty Dancing star.
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In Patrick Swayze: The Unseen Interview, the actor, who died Monday after an extended battle with pancreatic cancer, discusses Dirty Dancing and its impact on pop culture. "Sometimes a movie encapsulates a period or a moment in all of our lives in such a way that it never dies," Swayze said. "And I think Dirty Dancing did that."
"A lot of people say this was a movie about the loss of innnocence," Swayze continued. "And I believe it was a movie about the rediscovery of innocence."
Swayze said dealing with the "redneck mentality" while growing up as a dancer and actor in Texas helped him relate to the character of Johnny Castle. "I did something in terms of the arts... that people didn't understand," he said. "I had to fight my way up just to survive. And Johhny Castle, I believe, had to do the same thing on the streets of Philadelphia."
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Swayze was also very complimentary of his co-star, Jennifer Grey. "When Jennifer and I did our screen test together, a real chemistry and a real heat happened," he said. "Jennifer has as much natural talent as any young woman I've ever seen."
The interview was originally shot for the Dirty Dancing 20th Anniversary DVD. TV Guide Network will broadcast the footage for the first time in its special, which also features additional intreviews with the star.
Patrick Swayze: The Unseen Interview airs Thursday, Sept. 17 at 8/7c on TV Guide Network. Encores will air later at 11/10c and 1 a.m./midnight Friday, Sept. 18.
