'Step Into... the Movies with Derek and Julianne Hough' airs Sunday night on ABC.
Derek and Julianne Hough have loosened their hips and mastered the pelvic thrust. The only thing left is to unveil the star-studded lineup for their upcoming special, Step Into... the Movies With Derek and Julianne Hough.
Derek and Julianne invited ET's Lauren Zima to the set where they rehearsed hours on end to reimagine legendary cinematic performances like those in Singin’ in the Rain, Moulin Rouge, Beauty and the Beast, Chicago, Dirty Dancing, Saturday Night Fever and La La Land.
The special guest stars include Kevin Bacon, John Stamos, Jenna Dewan, Harry Shum Jr., Amber Riley, Charli D'Amelio and Ariana DeBose. The ABC special airs one week before the Academy Awards, and it's safe to say one of Hollywood's favorite siblings nailed the tall task at hand with help from their talented friends.
"We have some amazing special guests joining us," beamed Derek. "We have John Stamos, Charli D'Amelio." Julianne was so amped, she jumped in and chimed, "Ariana DeBose, whose just having her moment right now."
Derek, who is partnering up with Dewan for their Saturday Night Fever number, sang her praises.
"Can we just talk about how positive and a bright light she is," said Derek of Dewan. "She walks up, she's like 'I love this, do this' and actually -- it was funny -- every single guest we've had on has that same energy. They're so happy to be here. They're so excited, they're so energized. And we're just like 'Yeah, this is amazing.' So, it was a lot of fun."
With so much at stake -- like perfecting numerous iconic dance numbers -- one was left to wonder if that pressure triggered any tension between the lovable siblings.
"You know, honestly, we have little moments here and there but they’re short lived because we all want the same goal," Derek said. "For me my, the tense that I feel honestly, is a little bit of a responsibility. I feel a responsibility to honor these pieces the best we possibly can -- from the music, from the choreography, from the costumes, from the set pieces, I want to take as much care and as much love and focus and attention to these pieces as we can because, for me and for us, they are so precious."
The Houghs wouldn't divulge whether D'Amelio does the iconic lift for her Dirty Dancing number (Julianne said tune in to find out!) but the anticipation's building.
"Charli D'Amelio as Baby is actually one of the most perfect things," Derek hinted. "It's perfect. I'm actually very excited for people to see her."
The brother-sister dancers also shared which films had to be included in the special -- Chicago for Julianne and Singin’ in the Rain for Derek. And to say Derek's obsessed with Gene Kelly is an understatement.
"For me, one thing that's always inspired me about Gene Kelly is the way he used props," Derek explained. "The way he used the set. Whenever I wanna do something like that I always defer to him. What would Gene do in this moment and that kind of the idea of like stepping into the shoes. How did it feel for them in this? What does this feel like and so that’s what we're trying to recreate."
Derek also recalled the one time one of Kelly's wives, Patricia Ward, invited him over to the house and check out some of Kelly's personal items.
"She actually was inviting me to the house like, 'You gotta come check it out, check out his shoes,'" Derek says. "I was like, 'Listen, if I come over I'm stealing his stuff!"
For the record, he didn't.
Step Into... the Movies With Derek and Julianne Hough airs Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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