10 Famous Movie Scenes The Actors Almost Ruined

3. The Lake Lift (Dirty Dancing)

One of the most iconic dance moves in film history, most people with eyes are familiar with Baby and Johnny's lift from the end of Dirty Dancing, even if they haven't actually seen the movie all the way through.

This lift is also performed in a lake during the scene where the two characters are practising for their big dance, but back when this moment was filmed, things were touch-and-go on actually pulling the famous stunt off, because - through no fault of his own, we should mention - Patrick Swayze was suffering from a knee problem and struggled to do it properly.

Because the scene was shot in a real lake, the water was incredibly cold and uncomfortable to be in, which proved difficult for Swayze and his knee problem to cope with. As a result, it wasn't certain whether the lift would go ahead as intended, and the actor could've easily declined to film the scene, but he pushed through, delivering one of the film's most memorable moments in the process.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.