Abigail Breslin's Dirty Dancing role is her mother's dream come true

Actress Abigail Breslin made her mother's dreams come true by landing the female lead in the Dirty Dancing remake.

The Little Miss Sunshine star reveals she was just a kid when her mom Kim introduced her to the beloved 1987 movie, which starred Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle and Jennifer Grey as Frances 'Baby' Houseman.

"I saw it when I was 13, my mom showed it to me," Abigail told morning show Live with Kelly and Ryan. "And... usually when your parent shows you a movie and they're like, 'You have to see this movie, you're gonna love it', you're like, 'I'm gonna hate this,' but as soon as I saw Dirty Dancing I was obsessed and was just like, 'I wanna be Baby!'"

Abigail was already a child star at the time, and her mother admitted she would love for her little girl to star in a future remake.

The actress recalled, "She said to me, 'If ever they make a remake of Dirty Dancing, you'd make such a good Baby. I would die if you played Baby!'"

Sure enough, network bosses at ABC optioned the rights to the project for a TV movie, and in 2015, Breslin, now 21, was cast in Jennifer's famed role, opposite actor Colt Prattes, who is stepping into Swayze's shoes.

Remembering how she broke the news to her mom, she said, "I called her and was like, 'Hey, don't die, but erm...'"

The new Dirty Dancing TV film, directed by Wayne Blair, also stars Debra Messing, Nicole Scherzinger, and Sarah Hyland, and premieres on Wednesday (24May17).