Jennifer Grey was one of the most recognizable stars of the 1980s. However, the actress best known for her roles in Dirty Dancing and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, fell out of the spotlight after becoming unrecognizable due to two nose jobs.
Grey speaks on this in her new memoir Out of the Corner. To promote the book, she gave interviews to The New York Times and People magazine to discuss some of the things she talks about in the memoir.
After the success of Dirty Dancing, Grey became internationally recognizable. However, despite this, she didn’t have the offering of roles one would expect after such a prominent leading role.
Which is when she was told her nose was the problem.
Grey told The New York Times:
“My so-called ‘problem’ wasn’t really a problem for me, but since it seemed to be a problem for other people, and it didn’t appear to be going away anytime soon, by default it became my problem.”
“It was a plain as the nose on my face.”
It was at this time Grey’s mother convinced her to undergo a rhinoplasty procedure, to try and appease the studios and agents in Hollywood.
The first of the surgeries happened after the lack of roles despite her success in Dirty Dancing. The second was done in the 1990s to correct an issue caused by the first procedure.
This additional rhinoplasty made Grey unrecognizable to anyone who knew her from her films. Even fellow actor Michael Douglas didn’t recognize her at a movie premiere.
Grey said:
“That was the first time I had gone out in public.”
“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.”
These days, Grey is still acting.
She’s had voice acting roles and stints on TV shows like Friends, Grey's Anatomy and Dollface. However, it was her time and eventual win on Dancing with the Stars that led to her writing her memoir.
Grey’s book Out of the Corner will be released on May 3.
