Julianne Hough & Diego Boneta

Julianne Hough & Diego Boneta

Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta joined forces for musical/comedy Rock Of Ages, which saw them star alongside Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta Jones and Russell Brand.

- What interested each of you in the role?

Julianne Hough: I was really interested in this role when I heard Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin were a part of this movie. Who's not a dreamer and wants to come out to L.A., and pursue their dream? You know what I mean?

If you're a singer, or an actress. I definitely related to Sherrie, coming from a small town. It's the same thing for me, I came from Utah. The fact that I knew that Tom and Alec were already attached to this movie was a no-brainer. So, I was very excited.

Diego Boneta: What made me want to be in the movie was, first, the script was amazing. It was a great story. Adam Shankman is an amazing director.

Then, this amazing cast. Tom playing Stacee; Alec playing Dennis. It all just made sense, storytelling using the best songs of all time. That was just a blast.

- It is some great storytelling through some '80s rock tunes. Tell us about the relationship between you two, on-camera, and off-camera.

DB: Terrible.

JH: We didn't really like each other too much in the movie. I thought it was really fun because off-screen he's my little Diego. I want to pinch his cheeks. But I think that our chemistry was really great in the movie; it was young love.

I feel like young kids and people watching this movie and teenagers they're gonna look at that and hopefully want a relationship that's like that.

Because it was all about passion and really loving each other, even through the misunderstandings; you can come back and find each other again.

DB: It was great to work with Julianne, because I feel like we were both on the same page. We're both very passionate.

We're both very hungry; and we were very excited about being in this movie. We wanted to bring our A-game, so together we were helping each other out.

We were in Rock Star College for six weeks and were helping each other out which was great. She became like my sister after.

JH: Yeah.

- How difficult was Rock Star College?

DB: It was awesome, man. We were training with the best vocal coach, Ron Anderson. I had to learn how to play guitar, which is something I've always wanted to do.

I'm obsessed with it now. I don't even turn my TV on anymore. And Mia Michaels is amazing choreography. We were training with the best people in the business.

- I know you're both very young, so you weren't born in the '80s. What was it like being a part of the '80s through this movie? And what was your impression of that era?

JH: I know you’re all are very jealous that we were not born in the '80s, and that we were born later. But, in fact, we are very jealous of you because we did not actually live there, in the '80s.

It was really fun. Everything was all about losing your inhibitions and just going with the flow and really being passionate about what you loved. Everybody was wild. You got away with it more in the '80s than you do now.

There's a lot more consequences now. It would've been fun to live then, but I feel like we got to do that through the movie.

- Do you want to jump on that '80s bandwagon?

DB: Eighties, man. I'm just obsessed with '80s music in general. I grew up listening to all these '80s bands, because that's what my parents listened to. My favorite bands growing up were U2, Police, and Queen.

The older I got, the more '80s bands I was listening to. I just hope that after Rock of Ages comes out the '80s music and the melodies come back to today's pop world.

They're just really amazing songs with amazing melodies and amazing vocal melodies. So, hopefully, we'll bring it back.

- More of a carefree style of music, would you say? The music seemed to be a little more of a party versus what's going on now.

DB: It's just a rock concert, man. It's just fun rock-and-roll, and I hope that people enjoy the movie as much as we enjoyed shooting it.

- Do you guys have a favorite '80s movie? Is there something from the '80s that jumps out to you?

JH: Oh, my gosh, Teen Witch. Teen Witch was my favorite movie. I loved that movie. I just remember, 'break a leg,' because I used to hear that in the dance world all the time.

Then I saw that movie and they said, 'break a leg.' And she broke her leg. So, I never said it after that. I don't know why I'm obsessed that movie but I am.

DB: I'm gonna go with Top Gun.

JH: Suck up.

- Nice.

DB: No, come on.

JH: I'm kidding.

DB: Top Gun is, even the music on that is sick. Let's do Top Gun Two.

- What was it like, working with Tom Cruise in your musical numbers and in general?

JH: Oh, my gosh. There are no words to describe the feeling of Tom Cruise telling me I have a perky heart. I'm just kidding. Honestly though, it was my first scene of the movie with him and it was pretty surreal.

We just sang the 'Dead or Alive' together. And then I meet Stacey Jaxx for the first time - there wasn’t a lot of acting going on in that scene.

Everything was amazing. Basically, he had my back. He made sure that I was okay. So, he's a good guy. A good dude.

- Can you talk about the actual recording of these classic songs? What was it like for you guys to record these songs?

DB: First of all, Adam Anders just killed it. All the mash-ups he did and how he produced the songs, and the people that are involved in the soundtrack.

Some of the mixers, in Rock of Ages, in this soundtrack, were actually the original mixers of these songs.

Working with Adam and training, it was just a dream come true for me.
I was singing 'Waiting For A Girl Like You,' 'Heaven,' and 'More Than Words.'

JH: It was really fun too because we sang a couple of the songs together in the studio.

DB: Yeah, at the same time.

JH: So, we were joking with each other through the window.

DB: Yeah.

JH: I remember, actually, this is a pretty good story. I forgot about this story.
So, there's this part in 'Waiting for a Girl Like You,' and it's not in the movie. It'll probably be on the DVD.

It's Drew's fantasy of me dancing and singing, all up on top of him and everything. Adam Shankman made me go and get on top of him, basically in the recording booth. So that he can sing it like he was nervous.

It was really funny. We were laughing hysterically. This was the first week that we'd met, too. It was very awkward.

DB: I don't think I've ever sung that way in my life. That's the best I've ever sung.

Rock Of Ages is released on DVD & Blu-Ray 8th October.

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