Jennifer Grey The nose job ruined her career in Hollywood

Jennifer Grey: The nose job ruined her career in Hollywood

More than three decades after its premiere “Dirty dancing” is considered a classic of the 1980s and one of the highest-grossing films of all time.

It takes place in 1963 and tells the story of the teenager Frances “Baby” Houseman (interpreted by Jennifer Grey), who has an affair with the dance teacher during a hot summer Johnny Castleplayed by Patrick Swayze.

“Dirty Dancing” has grossed more than $214 million worldwide and won an Oscar for the song “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”

Audiences fell in love with the characters, the music, and the iconic dance routines, including the famous “Lift Up.”

The success of the film launched to fame Patrick Swayze, who died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 57. But the same didn’t happen with Jennifer Grey, who disappeared from public view in just a few years as if the earth had swallowed her.

This 2022 Gray has released her memoir, in which she tells the reason her film career didn’t thrive: a nose job that left her unrecognizable to the general public and prompted major film studios to stop offering her roles.

The dilemma of the operation

In “Out Of The Corner,” the now 62-year-old tells how early in his career, when he was fighting for roles, his mother, fellow actress Jo Wilder, suggested that the lack of work might have something to do with his “Jewish” nose to do.

The actress also thought this might be true, but she had always refused to get rhinoplasty surgery.

“I was almost thirty years old and had spent much of my adult life loving and accepting myself for who I was,” says the actress. “So going under the knife to admit defeat felt dangerously close.”

After the huge success of Dirty Dancing, she decided to take the plunge and challenged the renowned plastic surgeon who would operate on her to “fine tune” her nose but leave the characteristic “bulge” on her septum.

The procedure was a success and Gray began getting more roles and making money for the first time in his life.

In 1992, while filming Wind, the film’s cinematographer noticed a piece of cartilage sticking out of the tip of his nose.

The actress spoke to her surgeon and agreed to fix the problem. The idea was just not to see this piece of cartilage, but the result of this second operation would change his life forever.

When he was able to remove the bandages, Gray was shocked by what he saw in the mirror. “I couldn’t understand what I was seeing. I knew something bad had happened.”

The second operation changed her appearance so much that the general public no longer recognized her.

“It seemed like I had committed an unforgivable crime: intentionally taking away what made me special,” says Grey, aware that his original nose was also a physical connection to his Jewish identity.

“bottom out”

In an interview with journalist Katie Couric last May, Gray reflected on what had happened.

According to him, his parents’ families were Jews originally from Eastern Europe, and when they arrived in the US, they changed their surname. And for Jews who worked in show business (her father is actor Joel Grey, Oscar winner for “Cabaret”), changing noses was “normal and considered wise.”

“My mother knew how show business worked and she thought it would be easier for me to get roles because there weren’t many roles for girls who looked like me and were Jewish. There weren’t many options, and she wanted me to have her more options. She wanted me to have the career she didn’t have.

According to the actress after performing the first operation “he did not stop working, and it turned out that his mother “was right”.

When he had the second operation, he specifically told the surgeon that he liked his nose and that he “wished for a strong nose.”

“After the second operation (the surgeon) took off my bandages and something was wrong. He looked at me and said: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a dramatic change‘”.

“I don’t know what it did, but it changed the proportions of my face (…) it looked different in a way that didn’t make sense,” the actress said in an interview with Katie Couric.

“It was the hardest, loneliest and most confusing time of my life. It was so devastating. And to be so misunderstood around the world for decades… The lack of generosity and humanity hurt me so much.”

According to Grey, after the operation he “was unable to find work” or survive.

“I’ve decided to throw in the towel. I never again asked anyone to approve or like me.”

From there, he had to figure out who he was “without that character, without ‘Dirty Dancing'”.

“And in that solitude, I hit rock bottom. And I understood who I was and how much I was worth in a way that no one could ever take away from me.”

According to Gray, her loved ones saw her go through it all, “and it must have been very difficult for her.”

The actress – who is now working on the production of a ‘Dirty Dancing’ sequel – has spent years trying to understand why the public turned its back on her changed appearance.

“At one point I thought maybe they felt like (the character) Baby was them and they felt very identified with her because there are very few movies where the protagonist looks like her, or not perfect or is more human. . and it hurt them that I (with the surgery) said something about them that they weren’t enough.

“I’ve spent too many years thinking about this and not finding an answer. I just realized that nobody would save me (…) It was drama and I realized he was a very strong person‘ Gray says.

“All the hard things that happened to me happened to me and changed me and I don’t want to be a different person (…) Now I’m happier than ever and I’m very thankful to have survived. And I don’t think about myself or my nose. I think of what I have contributed in this life, as a mother, as a friend,…”.

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BBC NEWS SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-62500328 IMPORT DATE: 2022-08-11 17:20:05