As Footloose dances its way into cinemas across the UK, education charity FILMCLUB caught up with lead stars Julianne Hough and Kenny Wormald about their roles in the remake of the iconic 1980’s classic dance film.
Julianne - who is most known for her stint as a professional dancer on the US dance show Dancing With The Stars - told the charity how excited she was to feature as Ariel in the classic remake; "It’s pressure but we had so much fun doing it and its kind of cool that we got to bring it to this generation, and people who have never seen the original will see this and it will be their first time."
Newcomer Kenny added; "We definitely had a responsibility because it was a remake and we both grew up dancers so we were huge fans of the original film, and if you don’t see that movie as a dancer then you’re kind of crazy, so we definitely knew what it was about.
"There were some pressures but we allowed the director to deal with the pressures so we could just perform and make it our own."
Stepping into the dancing shoes made famous by Kevin Bacon in the 1984 original, Kenny told the charity about developing the character to make it his own and about overcoming his nerves taking on such an iconic role; "I watched the film a bunch (of times) as a kid, and I watched it once right before I auditioned. and then once I got the role I didn’t watch it.
"We had three months before we started shooting and I stayed away from it. I didn’t want to study it and I didn’t want to hear Kevin’s words in my head as some of the dialogue is even the same, so I made a point of staying away from it so I could make it my own."
He added; "I wasn’t nervous so much as that I was aware the importance of not messing up! Because so many people love the original. But we had a really great director and he made me feel really comfortable.
"While we were shooting it, it felt like we were making our own movie, it didn’t feel like were copying anybody or mimicking anyone."
Julianne Hough and Kenny Wormald spoke to FILMCLUB during a special webcast hosted by 15-year-old FILMCLUB Young Ambassadors Louise and Emily for the charity’s 250,000 members to watch.
Julianne said; "I think it was awesome. The Young Ambassadors were really great, they were really on it and very professional, very cute and very sweet and we had a good time just talking and chatting!"
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