Jennifer Grey reveals the actors she'd cast in a Dirty Dancing remake

We like your thinking, Jennifer...

(Image credit: Artisan/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)

We like your thinking, Jennifer...

Words - Natalie Stone

If there were to be a Dirty Dancing remake, Jennifer Grey already has two actors in mind to play the roles of Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman and Johnny Castle.

During an interview with JustJenny radio host Jenny Hutt, Grey, who played Baby in the 1987 dramedy, listed two potential A-listers she’d suggest for the leading roles.

‘I think Natalie Portman and Ryan Gosling,’ Grey, 56, revealed. ‘Wouldn’t you like to see them? Or Channing Tatum?’

‘I don’t know if she’s young enough to play that virgin thing, but she’s so gorgeous,’ Grey complimented the 35-year-old mother of one. ‘She’s just the best, most beautiful, amazing — and a great dancer.’

As for the leading man, she said of Gosling, ‘The Gos has just got something, you know what I mean? He’s just got something and he’s that very mysterious.’

She continued in her compliments of the 35-year-old actor: ‘Like you look at him and you go like, “Oh God. What would that be like?” You know what I mean?’

Grey admitted that she first noticed Gosling’s skills in a Mickey Mouse Club video that showcased him dancing alongside Justin Timberlake at a young age. ‘That is the sexiest guy in some MC Hammer pants,’ she said of Gosling.

But if Gosling wouldn’t be up for the top spot of Johnny, originally played by the late Patrick Swayze, Tatum would be her second choice.

‘He dances and he’s a smokeshow,’ Grey said of Tatum, 36. ‘He’s a goofball and he’s a genius because he’s so smart. He’s smart enough to not take himself seriously. He’s crazy smart.’

She added of watching the actor in his starring role on Magic Mike: ‘I was screaming and kicking. I could not believe the amount of sexual energy in his dancing. I think it’s very hard to find straight men who can dance — really dance. It’s just a beautiful thing.’

ABC announced that it be would be making a three-hour TV reboot of Dirty Dancing, with a cast that includes Abigail Breslin as Baby, Colt Prattes as Johnny, Sarah Hyland as Lisa Houseman and Debra Messing as Marjorie Houseman in the new show.

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