Julianne Hough was ready to reject her starring role in new movie musical Rock of Ages until she learned that Tom Cruise was starring in the film.
Hough admits she was turned off by the idea of hitting the big screen in another musical after her roles in Burlesque and 2011′s Footloose remake, and instead wanted to test her talents with a straight-up drama.
Julianne Hough tells the New York Daily News, “At first I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t think I want to do another musical… Of course, you have to get your foot in the door somehow, so Burlesque and Footloose made sense. But I wanted to expand and grow as an actress.”
But she had a change of heart as soon as director Adam Shankman revealed that the Mission: Impossible actor had signed up to lead the star-studded cast. Hough adds, “He said, ‘You know, Tom Cruise is in it.’ And I was like, ‘Right – I’ll do one more!’”
Julianne Hough will still get her chance to try her hand at drama: she plays a Christian evangelist with burns over two-thirds of her body in Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody‘s untitled directorial debut.
