She was smokin' as Sandy. She exorcized the demons.
But could this triple-threat give it all up for a touchy-feely workout?
Mormon teen to dancing queen, this is the transformation of Julianne Hough.
The Utah-born Julianne
Hough grew up as the youngest of five kids -– 14 if you count step siblings. With a family
involved in everything from dance to music and singing, Hough once told Women's Health,
"We were bred to perform."
"I literally probably came out of the womb dancing."
But Hough isn't the only star of the family. Her older brother Derek is also a world-class dancer.
When Julianne was just 10, she moved with Derek to London to study ballroom dance at
the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. There, Julianne was forced to grow up fast,
to fit in with the professional dance scene. As she confessed to People,
"When I look back, I think it's so sad
I have no pictures of me with a cute, bare, 10-year-old face."
Still, that hard work paid off, with Derek admitting of their parents,
"People will say, 'How could your parents let you go off to do that?' I think it’s great
that they saw an amazing opportunity. That is the reason we are here today."
After touring with "Dancing with the Stars," Hough caught the attention of producers who
invited her to join the cast for Season 4, in 2007. She competed with her partner,
Olympic speed-skater Apolo Ohno, taking home the Mirrorball Trophy. Julianne was just
18-years-old and became the youngest dancer to ever take home the title. Ohno was also
the youngest celebrity winner at the time, at 25. Julianne told the Las Vegas Review-Journal,
"It kind of came as a surprise but this has been
my dream since I was 5 years old. I'm very goal-driven, ambitious,
and I don't like to fail. I'm willing to sacrifice a lot to pursue my dreams."
After her Season 4 win, Hough scored a second consecutive win
alongside racing legend Hélio Castroneves. But, as she told "Good Morning America,"
"I have said from the beginning, it's not about me winning. It's about my partners
winning. […] We've said from day one all we're going to do is have fun
and just do the best he can do and it got him the trophy."
The duo's mambo routine also earned Julianne a nom for Outstanding Choreography at the
2008 Primetime Emmy Awards. Hough then went on to compete alongside radio personality,
Adam Carolla, on Season 6, but they weren't able to clinch another title.
"I'm supposed to get in a 9-piece suit in front
of 25 million people and relax, doing something I'm horrible at?"
Upon their exit, Carolla told People of Julianne,
"I lost 20 pounds of fat, I gained 105 pounds of angel. I love this girl."
And to that, Hough joked,
"America got to see who I got to know... I gained 200 pounds of great guy."
As her star was rising on TV, Hough
was busy focusing on another passion: music. In between her two winning seasons of "Dancing With
the Stars," the dancer hit Nashville to launch her country music career. In 2007, she released
her debut single "Will You Dance With Me." And her 2008 self-titled debut album — featuring
songs "That Song in My Head" and "My Hallelujah Song" — hit No. 1 on the country album charts.
Although she definitely owed some credit to dance for her crossover success,
Hough claims that music had always been in her heart. She revealed to CMT,
"I grew up listening to country music. The fans,
the music, the artists –- they are all so real. It's so attractive to me."
That summer, she toured with Brad Paisley, Chuck Wicks, and Jewel,
and even went on to score Top New Artist and Top New Female Vocalist at the 2009 CMAs.
Hough was then full speed ahead on releasing her followup record
in 2010 –– until it came to a screeching halt. Her lead single, "Is That So Wrong,"
failed to chart. But the star was cooking up yet another career pivot, telling The Boot in 2012,
"I feel like when I have the time to focus on it, and when I feel like it is the right time, [I'll
return to] my music. I love performing. If I'm not performing, there's something missing in my life."
"I think you can kinda get the picture."
Hough has since dipped a toe back into music with her 2021 single "Transform." Veering completely
out of the country genre, this one goes out to anyone in need of life-affirming inspiration.
After making her big screen
debut in "Burlesque" and then starring in "Footloose," Hough's next lead role
came with "Rock of Ages" in 2012. She played Sherrie, a small town girl who
moves to the big city to pursue her dream of becoming a singer. And as Hough told Collider,
"I am pretty similar to Sherrie in the fact that everybody has a dream,
they go for it, they are ambitious."
Although the movie was not a box office smash, Hough wouldn't stay quiet for long. By 2013,
she was starring in "Safe Haven" with Josh Duhamel, which grossed $97 million worldwide.
The film allowed her to explore a darker side as an actor. And as she explained to Cosmopolitan,
"This movie is about second chances and everybody really does deserve to find
somebody who gives them joy and happiness. So it was challenging, I felt very safe."
"It's definitely a change of pace."
On a very different note, her next big role came with 2016's
"Dirty Grandpa." The raunchy comedy was not well-received, to say the least.
But it did earn Hough a nom for Worst Supporting Actress at the 2017 Razzie Awards. Still, at least
she didn't take home the top prize. That honor went to winner Kristen Wiig for "Zoolander 2."
After a few box office bombs,
Hough came back strong in 2016 when she nabbed the lead role of Sandy in Fox's "Grease Live."
She even earned the endorsement of none other than Olivia Newton-John,
who played the character in the original film in 1978. Hough recalled with Variety,
"I met her, and she was like, 'Oh you're a perfect Sandy.'
That took some weight off my shoulders a little bit."
"Tell me about it, stud."
But it appeared Hough had been preparing for this role her whole life. As she shared with Variety,
"When I was a kid, my parents wouldn't let us watch the PG-13 movies. When they were gone...
I'd go downstairs to the basement and put on 'Grease.' I'd do the dances and songs and try
to be Sandy as long as I could –– until the dance scene, and then I went into full-blown Cha Cha."
"It was the first time that I saw a movie where I was like,
'Wait. You can sing and dance and act and do all of those things?"
The live special was well-received by fans and critics alike. Along with an Emmy,
Hough and Aaron Tveit, who played Danny, also took home an MTV Movie
Award for Best Musical Moment, for their performance of "You're the One That I Want."
Hough returned to her roots in 2014,
joining "Dancing with the Stars" — this time as a judge. She noted her unique perspective,
having been a contestant on the show, with "Good Morning America."
"'Dancing with the Stars' has always been a part of my family. I mean,
that's where it all began for me, so, it just kind of made sense."
Hough served as a judge through Season 24,
with a special appearance for the Season 30 finale in 2021.
"I'm known to be a little bit honest and a little bit
direct, but I think that that's kind of my role as a judge in this."
Even though she's no longer a part of the series, she told Entertainment Tonight,
"I watch the show now that I'm home and, you know, I have favorites and everything
which is great because I could never really have favorites. I had to really kind of separate that."
"I'm a fan just like everybody who watches."
After her stint on "Dancing
with the Stars," Hough stayed busy. In 2019, she joined "America's Got Talent" as a judge
for Season 14. But that November, Variety reported that the contracts for Hough and
fellow new judge Gabrielle Union would not be renewed. Following the news, the outlet noted,
"Union and Hough were also said by sources to have received excessive
notes on their physical appearance. […] Hough had received consistent criticism on hair,
makeup and wardrobe, which impacted her morale and led to tensions."
"I'm new so I'm gonna let it keep going."
Union in particular called out what she claimed to be toxic culture,
leading to an investigation, according to USA Today. And while Hough remained
diplomatic about her experience on the show, she showed support for Union, telling People,
"I believe that the paradigm of the workplace and how you do business and work with people now,
it's shifting, and I think that the people that really want to see that change happen
are going to authentically and positively do that."
After dabbling in just
about every aspect of the entertainment industry, Hough got back to the basics:
movement. And in 2018, she launched her own fitness method called KINRGY, which
she toured alongside Oprah the following year. She explained the practice, telling The Riveter,
"The movement is specifically designed to help you connect to your truth and to yourself.
When that happens, you get to experience the world how it’s supposed to be experienced,
which is love and unity."
"This came through me because of my own
stuff that I went through and I just wanted to share how this helped me."
The brand hosts online classes and occasional in-person events and retreats,
focusing on a blend of movement-based workouts and energetic release.
Hough created the company after considering her "legacy." She told the outlet,
"Part of what this year for me is about is letting go of an old idea of what I thought my life was
supposed to be. […] I can still act, I can still sing, but I’m getting rid of the idea that this is
the way it was supposed to look, and actually accept that my life has evolved into this."
Her method has been featured in Women's Health, by Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop, and by Tony Robbins.
In 2020, Julianne Hough
opened up about her endometriosis diagnosis when she graced the cover of Women's Health.
As she explained to People, she had grown up thinking she experienced bad menstrual cramps.
But then she was rushed to the emergency room in 2008 while filming "Dancing With the Stars."
The incident ended in Hough having her appendix removed. While she initially fought against the
diagnosis, she eventually learned to live with it, telling Women's Health,
"I feel I've created a more peaceful and harmonious relationship with it."
"You know, there's one in ten women
that have endometriosis and it usually takes, you know, six to ten years to get a proper diagnosis."
Although it means she could one day experience difficulty having children,
the eternal optimist trusts in her journey. As she shared with the outlet,
"I've always put it out there that it's going to be okay."
In January 2020,
Hough went viral when a video of "an energy treatment" with Dr. John Amaral — who you
might know from Gwenyth Paltrow's "Goop Lab" — hit the web. As Jezebel put it,
"Video has circulated of Hough screaming like a banshee undergoing an
exorcism whilst receiving an energy treatment."
At one point, Dr. Amaral explained,
"There's always a huge dissipation of energy and a feeling of relief, release, freedom."
The video garnered more than a handful of snarky headlines, despite the fact that Hough
had developed her therapeutic relationship with the doctor's work over several years.
"Because it helps me experience and go back to things and be able to shift them."
Still, brother Derek came to his sister's defense in a since-deleted comment on Instagram, writing,
"This stuff looks whacky and crazy but diving into it with the understanding is
a pretty wild experience. Maybe ahead of its time but worth an open mind."
While Hough's high-profile
relationships have all made headlines over the years, this triple threat has proven time and time
again that she's more than just someone else's better half. From reality TV to country music
to the big screen and her own fitness empire, Hough has never stopped challenging herself.
So you could say it's only fitting that she made her Broadway debut in 2022, with "POTUS."
"I'm here about the position."
"What position?" "The position."
"Why are you winking?" "They told me to be discreet."
Taking the stage alongside an all-star cast, Hough portrays one of a group of women
tasked with quieting down a PR debacle involving the president.
Although the play isn't a standard musical like fans might have expected,
it's a bucket list item for Hough, nonetheless. She explained to E.T.,
"This has been a dream of mine, to do Broadway and be on Broadway. After the last few years
we've kind of just really understood what's important and what we value.
And this is what I value. And I want to put myself in proximity to that and immerse myself [more]."
"I couldn't imagine a better, more, honestly, challenging and exciting play to be a part of."
It's clear the sky's the limit for this natural-born performer.
And we can't wait to see what she does next.
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