Julianne Hough Talks Rock of Ages

Julianne Hough talks singing, stripping, and lap-dancing in Rock of Ages!

If there’s one thing that’s been missing from discussions about rock ‘n’ roll over the last twenty years its this: sex. What happened to the sexuality of rock ‘n’ roll? Think about Elvis getting banned from radio stations for shaking his hips, KISS building their entire persona on the length of their tongues (yes, we all know what you’re getting at), and dudes marching around in skin tight leather pants bragging about the groupies they shagged at their latest gig. What the hell rock ‘n’ roll? The only place you can still catch this raw and sexual rock persona is on a stage on Broadway . . . wait, I take that back. Now you can see it in theaters. Tomorrow, Friday, June 15th, the movie musical Rock of Ages hits theaters all across the country. And this film, at least what I’ve heard and seen so far, wants to stay true to rock’s legacy of raw sexuality. After all, in a recent group interview, Juliane Hough talked music, stripping, and lap dancing in Rock of Ages.

For someone who’s spent most of her time in country music, it seems like taking on a roll in a rock musical might have been a bit challenging. “I tend to sing with a country accent. I don’t ever really realize that I am doing it. It is not even necessarily words, because I can finagle my vowels to sound a certain way. But it is certain flips that I would do on certain notes. I’m like, ‘I don’t hear what I am doing!’ and they are like, ‘You are flipping it!’” explained Julianne. “So I definitely had to work hard on that. But luckily enough I am in my cowgirl outfit now. I just came from Oklahoma so it is not too farfetched. But the songs are great. If you think about it, a lot of the country songs today are like the same kind of melodies as 80s rock songs.”

And Julianne had the opportunity to sing some damn good 80s rock ballads. “[I do] “Every Rose.” I do “Rock You Like a Hurricane” with Tom Cruise. We do “Here I Go Again.” I do “Waiting for a Girl” with Diego. What else? “Don’t Stop Believin’.” “Jukebox Hero” turned out so great. We had so much fun with that number. What else is there? “Almost Paradise,” “Nothing But a Good Time,” “More Than Words,” and “Heaven.” I love that one,” Julianne shared. “We almost cut that out because it was such a… it kind of stopped the flow. But we were just like, “It is such a nice breather for this movie.” Everything is so up, up, up—so we kept it. Plus, Diego and I were like, “No! This is the best song ever!” The mash up between “More Than Words” and “Heaven” is just beautiful.”

While Julianne is no stranger to skimpy outfits (thanks Dancing With The Stars), she says she’s never had experience stripping or giving lap dances . . . at least not until this movie. Juliane was quite impressed with the strippers on set. “Did you see some of the stuff?” she asked reporters. “Those chicks up there – that is some serious athleticism. I mean, they were insane and they did it take after take after take. Their bodies were amazing! I was like, ‘Oh, I am jealous!’ I would like to take stripper classes just for that, but I did not. The choreography is amazing so maybe she did. I don’t know.”

Later, when asked about whether or not she gave Tom Cruise (Stacee Jaxx) a lap dance in the film, Julianne gave a less explicit answer. “Sort of,” she responded. “To kind of go back, I was learning that I might get this role, but the play was coming into town into L.A.. So I went and saw it before I technically had the role, but we were in talks already. So when I saw the play I did see that part and I was like. ‘Oh….yeah! Alright. That is fun and it is Tom Cruise.’ So, yeah, I saw that part and there is a sort of lap dance thing that happens.”

Check out the entire interview by Steve ‘Frosty’ Weintraub at Collider.com.

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