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Jennifer Grey says nose job made her ‘lose her identity and career’ overnight

Actor had a rhinoplasty after the release of hit 1987 film ‘Dirty Dancing’

Nicole Vassell
Tuesday 19 April 2022 04:00 EDT
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Dirty Dancing The Musical

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Jennifer Grey has spoken out about the impact that her nose job has had on her career.

The actor is best known for her role starring alongside Patrick Swayze as Frances “Baby” Houseman in the 1987 romance movie Dirty Dancing.

After the film’s release, Grey decided to get a rhinoplasty to alter the appearance of her nose.

According to the actor, it was at the suggestion of her mother, who believed that the operation would make it easier for casting directors to think of her for further parts.

After she underwent surgery on her nose for the second time in the early Nineties, however, it resulted in her face looking so different that fellow film star Michael Douglas failed to recognise her at a premiere.

“That was the first time I had gone out in public,” she recalled in a recent interview with PEOPLE magazine.

“And it became the thing, the idea of being completely invisible, from one day to the next. In the world’s eyes, I was no longer me.”

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in ‘Dirty Dancing’
Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in ‘Dirty Dancing’ (Rex Features)

Grey’s forthcoming memoir, Out of the Corner, sees her going into further detail about the effect that having cosmetic facial surgery has had on her life. In the book, she remembers questioning why she was having difficulties with finding lucrative work in Hollywood.

She writes: “I spent so much energy trying to figure out what I did wrong, why I was banished from the kingdom. That’s a lie. I banished myself.”

On the consequences of her nose job, Grey continues: “Overnight I lose my identity and my career.”

In recent years, the actor and dancer has featured on TV programmes such as Grey’s Anatomy and Dollface. She also won the 11th season of Dancing With the Stars in 2010.

Elsewhere in the interview, Grey opened up about the lack of chemistry between herself and her Dirty Dancing co-star Patrick Swayze.

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