Starting this Friday, audiences will be able to “cut loose” once again.
Last fall, director Craig Brewer (“Hustle & Flow”), mega-stars Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid, and newcomer Kenny Wormald undertook the job of remaking the beloved 1984 film “Footloose.” The original, starring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer, evokes a retro vibe similar to “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever,” and, according to Hough, remaking such an iconic film was no easy task.
“I thought the same thing, like, ‘Ugh, remakes, they suck,’” Hough said. “I think that [Brewer] did justice with giving the same heart that you felt when you were watching it in 1984 as I think you do today . . . I think that the people that saw the original are going to be impressed.”
The original “Footloose” centered itself on the small fictional town of Bomont, Utah. When Ren McCormack (Bacon) moves to Bomont from urban Chicago and discovers that rock ‘n roll and dancing are illegal, he and his new friends are determined to make a change. With the help of Ariel Moore (Singer), the local high schoolers start a revolution.
The 2011 “Footloose” appeals to viewers of a whole new demographic. This time around, Bomont is set in Georgia, true to Brewer’s flair for Southern drama. Hough dons a pair of cowboy boots for most of the film’s duration, and even the soundtrack’s essential component, “Footloose,” was covered by country crooner Blake Shelton.
“I didn’t watch the [original] movie when I booked the job because I already knew it,” Hough said. “I really wanted it to be my own and I have to tell you, when we were shooting this movie, we really felt like it was our own movie.”
Hough said that Brewer’s direction added a depth to the characters that was missing in the 1984 original.
“One thing that I felt like I missed from Ariel back in the original was that I felt like she was just kind of a bad girl and she was a troublemaker,” Hough said. “When I saw this version and saw that Craig had rewritten her to . . . show the depth that she has, and the relationship that [she] and her father have, then you see why [they] act like [they do.]”
Hough’s role as Ariel Moore is her first major acting debut, though she cites a small role in the 2010 movie “Burlesque” for teaching her the “logistics of filmmaking.” As The Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist and Top New Artist in 2009, and a two-time winner of “Dancing With The Stars,” Hough is no stranger to the spotlight.
The road to the 2011 “Footloose” changed direction abruptly. Consequently, Hough’s involvement with the project was, at times, uncertain. Originally slated to direct the remake was Kenny Ortega, of the Disney Channel’s infamous “High School Musical” trilogy. Zac Efron, also of “Musical,” and Chace Crawford of “Gossip Girl” were both rumored to be filling Bacon’s dancing shoes before the role ultimately became Wormald’s.
“I ended up basically fighting for my role,” Hough said. “I auditioned twice for this movie, and I’m so glad I did. I’m so proud of this movie.”
Acting alongside Quaid, who has perfected the paternal role in films such as 1998’s “The Parent Trap,” Hough has a surprisingly commanding on-screen presence. In a tense scene after being physically abused by her ex-boyfriend, the black-eyed and tear-stained Ariel reams her father for being overly protective, challenging him with: “What are you gonna do, pass another law?”
“A lot of the scenes that I loved were the ones that really challenged my acting,” Hough said. “Some of my favorite scenes were the Dennis Quaid scenes.’”
Most important to the film’s adaptation is that the message behind an ‘80s “Footloose” is still relevant in modern society.
“I think that . . . we kind of need a movie like this,” Hough said. “I think in this moment, in this time, we need to fight for what we believe in. I think this [movie] really shows the heart and the drive that these kids have. And hopefully it motivates people to do the same.”
“Footloose” will be playing in theaters everywhere starting Friday, Oct. 14.
