Dancing as a star

“I was born four years after the original film came out,” says Hough,who stars in the remake. “I watched it numerous times because it was filmed in Utah,where I grew up. You had to love this film if you were from Utah. Later on we walked around school humming,Let’s Hear It for the Boy.”

If the new remake of the Kevin Bacon classic pans out,maybe the next generation of film buffs will be playing Six Degrees of Julianne Hough. The 23-year-old actress/dancer,previously best known as one of the professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars (2007-2009),already has a couple of major credits to her name: Hough will star opposite Tom Cruise in Rock of Ages,the adaptation of the hit Broadway musical.

The new Footloose has drawn a considerable amount of flak from fans of the original,but Hough insists that her feelings aren’t hurt. “People want to hate this film a little bit,which I completely understand,” she says. “It’s a classic film,people have their doubts. But they leave humming the songs and,during the film,they are tapping their feet.” The remake casts Kenny Wormald in the Bacon role as high-school student Ren McCormack,a city slicker who moves to a small town like many others,with one big exception: in the wake of a horrific accident that killed several teens on their way home from a dance,all public dancing has been banned at the urging of the moralistic Rev. Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid). Hough plays Ariel,the minister’s daughter,a rebel who immediately takes to Ren and seconds his desire to get things shaking.

“It’s not a typical dance movie,” Hough says. “It has a story line and a heart line. I think teens really appreciate a movie that gives them something to think about when it’s over.”

This movie frankly discusses getting in trouble as a teen,drinking too much,and it even features a girl who is hit by her boyfriend. “We’re also frank about sexuality.”

The dancer in Hough couldn’t help but look forward to the classic finale in which Ariel goes to the prom. “I had tears in my eyes —and I wasn’t the only one. It hit me that we were about to film this iconic scene. We were about to go Footloose.”

The Salt Lake City native has never been shy about dancing. “I’ve been dancing since I was 6 at a local studio,” Hough says.

She was a dancer on the TV series Show Me the Money (2006). Then she became one of the featured professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars,winning the competition in 2007 and again in 2009. She left the show in 2009 and moved to the big screen to play Georgia in Burlesque (2010),working with the likes of Christina Aguilera and Cher. “I try to do everything to the best of my ability,” she says,“Right now my focus is on acting,but I’m not opposed to dancing and acting on the big screen.”

She does both,and also sings,in Rock of Ages,which she recently finished filming.

“I almost said no to the film before I found out that Tom Cruise was in it,” she adds. “It was also one of the most exciting sets I’ve ever been on in my life.”

Her next film will be Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody’s as-yet-untitled directorial debut,which casts Hough as a sheltered woman who loses her faith after a plane crash. She decides to dig deep into the decadence of Las Vegas,where she meets an unlikely match who helps her find herself.

Offscreen she spends as much time as possible with her boyfriend,Survivor announcer and multimedia star Ryan Seacrest.

“It helps to be with someone in the business,but we’re not just about the business,” Hough says. “Ryan and I are both in the entertainment world,which is great because we get the commitment and hours and responsibility. We really understand each other.”