“When I first started the film I had no creative control, so I was like, ‘I hate this,’” Nicole Scherzinger, 38, told us EXCLUSIVELY at the PaleyLive LA premiere of Dirty Dancing on May 18. “I would go home and cry the first week of filming. And then it was the second or third week and something clicked and I was like ‘Oh I get this, I’ve caught the bug, I wanna do this, there’s no turning back.'” We’re thrilled to hear that, since Nicole is hands down, one of the best parts of the entire film. Of course it’s a remake of the 1987 classic starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray, so with so many fans who love the original, there was a lot of pressure for the entire cast to get it right.
Nicole’s character Penny goes through an abortion, just as she did in the original. We also caught up with Shane Harper who plays Robbie, the guy who gets Penny pregnant, then leaves her. Shane, 24, told us on the carpet that the controversy of the abortion isn’t the focus, but more-so how Robbie treats women in general. “Maybe it’s less about the [abortion] situation and more about just him as a guy and kind of making it aware that these are the kind of people you should look out for,” he said. “If you are a girl looking for a good guy, he’s not it. Just because someone is charming or went to a good school doesn’t mean they have your best interest at heart. His intentions are all wrong.”
'Dirty Dancing': Watch The Watermelon Scene by Hollywoodlife
The film also stars Abigail Breslin as Baby, Colt Prattes as Johnny, Debra Messing as Marjorie Houseman, and Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Jake Houseman. Dirty Dancing airs on 8PM ET on May 24 on ABC. Will you be watching?