PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 29 (UPI) — Playing the role of Sandy in Fox’s upcoming musical special Grease: Live! is a dream come true for star Julianne Hough.
Hough spoke excitedly about the opportunity Thursday, while promoting the special at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour.
“This is my five-year-old dream,” the two-time Dancing with the Stars champion explained to Fox 411. “For her (Olivia Newton John) to give me that blessing to take that wave, I hope I make her proud. I can come here and discover Sandy for myself and still honor what Olivia did. I hope she’s watching. She’s better than you hoped she would be.”
Hough had the chance to meet the original Sandy, back in October during an episode of Dancing with the Stars. “Last night I got to meet @therealonj and it was one of the greatest moments ever,” she gushed on Instagram at the time. “I’ve been a hopelessly devoted fan of hers (see what I did there?) since the very time I saw Grease, and I am so honored to play Sandy.”
Now with the premiere date looming, Hough explained how she is feeling “nervous excited.”
“I think we are doing something so different, we are combining everything that I have ever loved to do but also live television, theatrical performances/cinematic camera work and we are on live sets like we would do if we were shooting a movie,” the dancer said. “So I feel like we are shooting a musical movie in real time with sitcom audience numbers. It’s the craziest hybrid, it’s amazing.”
While appearing on Entertainment Weekly Radio on SiriusXM recently, Hough, along with her co-star Aaron Tveit who’s set to play Danny, revealed which songs they chose to sing for their audition.
While Tveit earned the role John Travolta made famous after singing the Grease musical number “Sandy,” Hough went though her audition process avoiding any songs from the classic musical. “They had me just come in and meet with the director [Thomas Kail]. I didn’t even prepare anything,” Hough says of the experience. “I had just come off my tour that I did with my brother [Derek] … so I just sang a song that I sang on that. I didn’t even sing anything Sandy related, Grease related — nothing.”
Grease: Live! airs Sunday at at 7 p.m. ET on Fox.
