Around Town: Julianne Hough, Kenny Wormald Talk ‘Footloose’
All that dancing in Footloose was tough on her muscles, Julianne Hough (in a Rachel Zoe Tuxedo dress) acknowledged at the Cinema Society screening on October 12 in NYC, but not as hard as her appearance the previous evening on Dancing With the Stars. “I have sore muscles. I’ve got, like, bruises on my legs,” Hough said, laughing and rubbing her gams.
Of course, she is known for dancing, and says that the Footloose role allowed her to spread her artistic wings. “Knowing that Craig Brewer, our director, was going to be attached, because he is a true filmmaker, I really felt that I was going to be able to show my acting ability more so than even my dancing,” Hough said. “But it’s kind of nice to be able to dance onscreen and have that, you know, forever,” she added.
Of course, the question on everyone’s mind was whether she’s taught her boyfriend Ryan Seacrest any good dance floor moves. “I have not taught him how to dance,” Hough laughed. “But I’ve told him I don’t care if you’re a good dancer or not, just commit to it and have fun.” He took her advice, she said, and is now a fun dance partner.
Her co-star Kenny Wormald, who plays Ren, said that he has not yet met Kevin Bacon, who created the role back in 1984. “I’ve only been asked like 3,000 times,” he joked. “But I was a huge fan of the original film, loved the guy in the movie and in everything he’s done since. But I haven’t met him.”
Those taking in the fancy footwork at the Tribeca Grand and sipping Svedka cocktails at the new spot Catch later included Petra Nemcova, Brad Goreski, Christian Siriano and Peter Facinelli. Also attending was Joe Zee, who described his own dancing ability as not bad—for someone with two left feet.
Earlier in the week, Condé Nast Traveler, which is all about going on holiday, chose an actual holiday—Columbus Day—to present their Reader’s Choice Awards, where they gathered a nice gang at the Edison Ballroom to celebrate the world’s favorite destinations: Chris Noth and Christine Baranski hosted, and Angela Bassett, Stephen Colbert, Padma Lakshmi, Vincent Piazza and Gretchen Mol were some of the celebrities who presented awards.
Mary-Louise Parker told us that her travels included exotic places like Thailand, where she lived as a child, and some less glamorous. “I just took a road trip, I went across country in an RV,” she said. The Weeds star said she and her kids had great fun on the cross-country journey. Did she see anything tacky on the road? “The whole thing was tacky!” she laughed. “We were at a campsite.”
Two of the distinguished guests literally traveled just to make it to the awards. “You know, I just flew in from London an hour ago,” famed chef Nobu Matsuhisa said, adding that with restaurants on five continents, he travels constantly.
Ditto for Iron Chef star Masaharu Morimoto. “I just came back from Mexico City today, landing at 3 o’clock at Newark airport, through customs, then back to my home, took a shower, a quick bite and then came here,” he said. Morimoto too travels quite a lot. “Last month I used my own bed three nights,” he said.