Julianne and Derek Hough are telling tales from the hidden side of the dancing world. The brother-sister pair is developing a Starz scripted drama set in the world of competitive ballroom dancing, for which they will draw on years of first-hand experiences as competitors at the world-championship level. Titled Blackpool, the drama effort will revolve around the prestigious annual ballroom competition in Blackpool, England, with a focus on the darker side of ballroom dancing.

“When you’re in the world, you’re so invested. It’s literally the be-all and end-all. But when you step back from it, you see that obsession with perfection and the fact that the lifestyle that you thought was so glamorous is actually a little shocking,” Julianne Hough says in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. The comment comes mere weeks after Hough revealed in a Cosmopolitan cover story that she was a victim of physical and emotional abuse as a young dancer living in England.

Her brother, who appears on Dancing With the Stars, one of the many TV series that have capitalized on the interest in the dancing genre in recent years, makes clear that the series will push into hidden areas of the sport. “What makes it so interesting is seeing all of the politics and the scandal,” says Derek Hough. “It’s framed in the world of ballroom dancing, but the stories that are intertwined are of the partnerships and the sex and the love triangles.”

In addition to lending their own tales from the ultra-competitive world, the pair will serve as executive producers on the project as well as the head choreographers. At this time, they have no plans to appear onscreen, though they do intend to be actively involved in the process of hiring and casting. Julianne, currently on an international press tour for her film Safe Haven, notes that she is meeting with potential writers in London.

The siblings say that this drama is something that they have toyed with bringing to the small screen for some time. They shopped it to a handful of networks, but they say that they were particularly struck by Starz CEO Chris Albrecht’s passion for it in the room. And while they have a deep well from which to draw, they don’t intend to make this a purely autobiographical tale. “We definitely want it to be fictionalized,” says Julianne. “We’re going to start with our experiences in the world and stories that we’ve either seen or gone through, but it’ll be fun to be able to elaborate and fictionalize these characters.”

It sounds like Julianne has a new movie in the works, slated to begin filming sometime next year! This will be her second project working with Diablo Cody – the first is the still untitled project co-starring Russell Brand. According to Variety:

Having wrapped the lead role in Diablo Cody’s untitled directorial debut, Julianne Hough is now attached to star in the Cody-scripted romantic dramedy “Time and a Half,” which Ol Parker is directing for Groundswell Prods. and Mad Chance Prods.

Hough will play a recent college grad who takes a temp job at a trophy store where she runs into her sister’s high school boyfriend with whom she had a one-night stand.

Groundswell principal Michael London is producing with Andrew Lazar of Mad Chance. The filmmakers are currently casting the role of the protag’s sister, and the project won’t move forward until they find the right actress to compliment Hough.

Should the elements come together, production wouldn’t start until next year.

Groundswell recently produced “Lola Versus” and is currently shooting Naomi Foner’s “Very Good Girls.” Mad Chance is in pre-production on “Parental Guidance Suggested” and “Fellini Black and White.”

Since breaking out on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” Hough has been quick to establish herself as an actress, landing lead roles in a trio of music-themed pics — Screen Gems’ “Burlesque,” Paramount’s “Footloose” and New Line’s “Rock of Ages.” She’s currently filming Relativity’s adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ novel “Safe Haven” and will next be seen playing against type as a burn victim opposite Russell Brand in Cody’s Mandate Pictures-produced comedy formerly known as “Lamb of God.”

It’s official! ‘Safe Haven’ author Nicholas Sparks took to his Facebook and Twitter yesterday to confirm that Julianne will be playing the female lead in the new film based on his novel! Julianne’s been rumored for the part for a few weeks and now it’s confirmed! The novel, which follows the journey of Katie – a young woman who moves to the small town of Southport, North Carolina – will co-star Josh Duhamel (All My Children, Las Vegas, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, When in Rome, and the Transformer movies) as her love interest, Alex!

Have you read ‘Safe Haven’ yet? What did you think? Are you excited to see Julianne in a Nicholas Sparks film?

Yesterday morning, Julianne mentioned that she was going to Paramount Studios to take part in ‘an iconic photo’. After some digging, I found the following article which might just explain what Julianne was doing there. How exciting that she was included with some major stars!

Dozens and dozens of Paramount Pictures stars from the past gathered on the famous lot today for a once in a lifetime group photograph. The occasion was the 100th anniversary of the studio. Stars from The Godfather–like Robert DeNiro, James Caan, and Al Pacino, as well as director Francis Ford Coppola–were joined by famous types like Barbra Streisand, Shirley Maclaine, director Peter Bodganovich, Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, plus Martin Scorsese, Gore Verbinski, Tom Cruise, and Charlize Theron. Martin Scorsese told me last night at Paramount’s swellegant bash on the studio lot that he had Jane Fonda on one side of him, Ernest Borgnine on the other. “He’s 95 and amazing! Marty exclaimed. More stars mentioned included Eddie Murphy, and former Paramount chief Robert Evans was the only executive included in the photo. “The kid stays in the picture,” quipped our own Leah Sydney, referring to the famous Evans documentary. There were no press people there, I’m told. A full list isn’t yet available. All in all, it’s a coup for studio chief Brad Grey, who’s reshaped Paramount for the 21st century.

Starting Saturday, January 21st at 6PM EST, Game Show Network will begin airing Season Four of Dancing with the Stars! For those of you who remember, this was Julianne’s very first season of the show, where she partnered with Olympic gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno and went on to win her very first mirrorball trophy. Make sure to tune in starting January 21st to see the season from the beginning and relive Julianne’s first season! At the time, she was only eighteen! What a difference five years can make in her career!

Like anyone with a new puppy, Julianne Hough has had to go through some growing pains with Harley, the Cavalier King Charles spaniel she brought home in April.

Most recently, the nearly 1-year-old pup, who Hough calls a “little devil,” has been working through a big issue: her fear of strangers.

Harley’s trainer, celebrity dog guru Tamar Geller, has helped canine lovers like Oprah Winfrey and Ben Affleck, and devised a plan to help Harley overcome her anxiety.

On Dec. 9, Hough attended an L.A. session of Geller’s Operation Heroes & Hounds program, which helps shelter dogs and war veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder and learn new life skills.

By surrounding Harley with eight strangers, many of them veterans in the program, everyone in the group encouraged the pup to ease into the idea of befriending new people. They used Geller’s Loved Dog approach to training, and with lots of enthusiasm, praise and repetition of the word “courage,” Harley learned that meeting new people can be a positive experience.

“By the end of the session, she even jumped in the lap of one of the veterans,” Geller tells PEOPLE. “[Julianne] sat there with her mouth open in awe and said her heart skipped a beat when she saw the changes in her beloved pup.”

Hough has continued to use the training since her time at Operation Hereos & Hounds.

“When we pet [Harley] we go, ‘Cooourage, cooourage, cooourage,’” Hough told PEOPLE at a beachside shoot for Proactiv earlier this month. “That’s our new thing with Harley that we practice.”

Loose-limbed celebrity dancer-cum singer JULIANNE HOUGH talks to joe yogerst about her love of dance, her artistic aspirations, her English accent – and the uncanny omnipresence of the musical Footloose in her life

JULIANNE HOUGH IS back home in Los Angeles, taking a well-deserved break from the worldwide publicity blitz that precedes the remake of Footloose, a movie about young people who would do just about anything to dance. That’s pretty much been the story of Hough’s life, too, a relentless and often exhausting endeavour to become one of the globe’s leading dancers.

Once upon a time, it was ballet that launched dancers (such as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov) into stardom beyond their immediate circle and to parallel careers in film. Nowadays it’s a flashy television vehicle called Dancing with the Stars. Hough (pronounced “huff”) has won the competition twice (once with Winter Olympic gold medallist Apolo Anton Ohno as her partner and the other time teamed with Brazilian racing driver Hélio Castroneves), and along the way become, arguably, the show’s most beloved dancer. Craving more, Hough left the show that made her famous three years ago to pursue movies and music.

Nobody was all that surprised when Hough, a died-in-the-wool rural girl, launched a country-music career in 2008. What did surprise is how well she did: her self-titled debut album hit number one in the US country charts and number three overall. She went on tour with country icons George Strait, Brad Paisley and Toby Keith. And she’s now polishing off a second country album, scheduled for release in 2012.

Hough’s movie career got off to a slow (yet trivia-worthy) start with an uncredited role as a Hogwarts schoolgirl in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It was nearly a decade before she was on the big screen again, in another minor role, this time in Burlesque. Hough finally hit pay dirt when she was cast as Ariel Moore in the Footloose reprise, a part that she seemed destined to snag, given her birthplace (Sandy, Utah, where much of the original Footloose was filmed on location), footwork and acting background. Not long afterwards, she nailed another huge role alongside Tom Cruise and Diego Boneta in the film version of the hit Broadway musical Rock of Ages, due for release in June 2012.

Twenty or 30 years from now, some young ingénue is going to star as Julianne Hough in a biopic about the dancer’s younger days, because her lead-up to fame and fortune reads like a real-life version of Flashdance, or one of those other small-town-girl makes-good movies.

She was born and raised into a large (five kids) Mormon family on the edge of Salt Lake City. But unlike the movie story, these were small-town folks who loved to dance. Hough’s parents met on their college ballroom dancing team and all four of her grandparents loved to trip the light fantastic. At nine years old she was dancing in local competitions. A year later – her parents in the throes of a divorce – she was living in London with her older brother Derek (another Dancing with the Stars regular) in the home of two British dancers, the young Americans getting their education and training at the renowned Italia Conti Academy of theatre arts.

From day one, everyone could tell the kid had incredible talent. And Julianne did not disappoint. In 2001, she won three major international dance competitions including the British National Junior Latin Championship at the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival. She returned to the States, finished high school and shortly thereafter was chosen as one of the company dancers on a summer replacement television show called Dancing with the Stars that would soon become a pop-culture phenomenon. Hough could have easily remained in the background if not for a lucky break: one of the star dancers went down with an injury and Julianne – who already knew all the moves – was yanked off the “chorus line” and thrust into the limelight.

Hough made a guest appearance on the show shortly after our chat. But she made it crystal clear during the interview that while dance may have been her bread and butter in the past, movies and music are where she would like to expend the bulk of her considerable energy in the future.

Footloose is one of those movies that a lot of people felt should have never been remade – an attitude that the first one was perfect. So why do it again?
You know, you always go into shooting a movie with the best of intentions. But you never really know until you see it and see people’s reaction to it. Being on this tour and watching the screenings, you meet a lot of people who are like, “You touched my baby!” when they come into the movie. But they come out and say, “I’ve got to tell you, I was so sceptical about this movie. I thought it was going to be terrible. But you completely shocked me. I’m pleasantly surprised.” And some of them said, “I can’t believe it, but I liked it better than the original.”

This was a long and winding road for you – a movie that almost didn’t get made.
I was doing Dancing with the Stars and [High School Musical director] Kenny Ortega wassupposed to do the movie and the originalscript was going to be like the stage production.So I went in and got the job and then a coupleof other people started signing up – like ChaceCrawford and Zac Efron. But then the studiowent in another direction [and Ortega andCrawford parted ways with the production].I was like, I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t do this movie. You know, it’s a classic. And Footloose is one of my all-time favourites too. Maybe it isn’t the right thing to do.

Then Craig Brewer got attached [as writer/director] and I read his script and I went, OK, this is what I have to be a part of. This is a movie that will really show my acting abilities and is not going to be based on my dancing or my singing. So I’m on board. But then Craig Brewer said “I kind of want to choose my own cast.” And I was like, “No! Wait!” And so I really had to fight for my role. I basically had to audition twice. I went in and fought for it and he saw something in me. I guess that’s why I am so passionate about it, this journey.

So you were a fan of the 1984 version?
It was absolutely one of my favourite movies, together with Flashdance, Dirty Dancing and Grease, all of those dance movies back in the day. And it was shot in Utah, where I grew up. On my way to dance class I would always pass the place where Kevin Bacon does the angry dance. If you haven’t seen Footloose, you’re a disappointment to Utah.

But there was no way to know that Footloose would have such a major impact on your life.
No, but there was something about it. There were a lot of ironies and circumstances and coincidences with Footloose. One of them was growing up in the town where they shot the original. And then my first dance ever on Dancing with the Stars was to “Let’s Hear It for the Boy.” And before that, my brother was on the West End in London and played Ren [Kevin Bacon’s lead character] in Footloose. After my audition, I came out and called my mom. As she picked up the phone, she turned on the radio and Footloose was playing. All of this kind of happened and in the end I was like, “Wow, I just have to be a part of this movie.” Oh, and I didn’t even tell you this – I did a high school production of it.

And next up is another high-profile music and dance movie – Rock of Ages. Are you still working on that?
I finished it about a month ago. And immediately after I wrapped that, I started the tour for Footloose. So it’s been like one crazy thing to the next thing. I’m on cloud nine, I can’t even tell you.

Rock of Ages was filmed down south, right?
Right, Miami. Three months in Atlanta and then almost six months in Florida. So I kind of don’t know where I live right now. We really hope it’s a pretty epic movie. Every scene that we did was like, “Wow!” I didn’t know if I wanted to do another musical – I want to focus on dramatic and comedic movies. Then I was told that Tom Cruise was going to be in it and I was like, “OK, I can do one more!”

What was it like working with Tom Cruise?
Tom Cruise is the hardest-working person. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody commit to something the way that he does. Everyone knows Tom Cruise from Top Gun and Tom Cruise from Mission Impossible. But no action hero was present during the filming of this movie – he was legitimately a rock star. He took vocal lessons and trained and his voice was outstanding. I had such a great time and I remember our first scene together. We were sitting talking and Sherrie [Hough’s character in the movie] is like a huge fan and she’s completely star-struck over him, and basically I didn’t have to act. I was looking at Tom Cruise! It was pretty amazing.

Does dancing really run in your family, or is that just Hollywood hype?
Yeah, my parents and my grandparents, they all danced. But not professional dancers. My favourite thing was to dance with them. They had the most charming way of dancing and such swagger. It was such fun.

How did it evolve from family fun into a serious profession?
My mom just started popping kids out right and left and so she had to put them in some sort of activity to keep track of them or keep them out of trouble, and so we all just went into dance and acting and singing and kung fu and bongos. You name it, we tried it. And we just sort of gravitated towards the music and acting and dancing. My sisters are so talented. One sister is a songwriter and my older sister Sharee is supermom – she has six kids and is pretty incredible.

How did you and your brother end up in England at such young ages?
The dance coaches that I lived with in London came to Utah, to this dance studio I went to, and they saw my brother and me dance. It was right around the time that my parents were getting divorced, so there was tension around the house as they were working out their deal. We expected to stay [in London] for a couple of months, and I ended up staying for five years and my brother stayed for eight.

What was it like going straight from small-town Utah to living in a huge, foreign city?
I was very disappointed when I got to London and there weren’t people riding in horse-drawn carriages and wearing monocles.
There were no queens and stuff like that [laughs]. Utah is a bubble. Definitely a bubble.

How did the Londoners treat you?
A little like we were aliens because of our accents. They would say “talk like us” when we were at school and then I would try and do this really bad English accent. My brother used to call me Madonna [because her English accent was so bad]. But now he can’t say anything because now my accent is pretty good. We had a great time going to a dramatic-arts school called Italia Conti Academy and I really see that as the most amazing experience of my life. The kids in there…we were all competitive. But more so with ourselves, just trying to be better. It was a great learning experience, which helped me decide what I want to do with my life.

Have you ever thought about making your London days into a movie?
I absolutely have. But I want to tell the real story. I don’t want to tell the commercial version. I want to tell the Black Swan version, so I have to wait a little bit longer. It doesn’t have to be about me but just that world and the experience and the things that I’ve been through. I think there are things that people would be fascinated to hear even if it wasn’t about me, but just to hear what does go on in that world.

How did you make the leap from London to Dancing with the Stars?
When I graduated from high school when I was 18, I packed up my car and moved to LA. I told my dad I had $5,000 so that he would let me go – when I only really had $2,000. And when I got here, I just auditioned for things and I wouldn’t stop until I got jobs. I got commercial jobs and some dancing jobs. Dancing with the Stars was going on its first live tour and I went as a company dancer on the road. One of the dancers who was dancing with Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block got injured and I replaced her. So I got all the [group] dances on the show plus these ones. I think I was about 95 pounds because I was doing so much cardio. Dancing with the Stars saw me on the road and asked me to be a part of [the television show]. At first I hesitated. I really wanted to be a respected actress and singer and not on reality TV. But then I thought about it. The best thing about this reality show is that you have to be skilled, you have to be talented to be one of the dancers. So you’re not just coming in like someone who didn’t have any talent. I didn’t realise how well I was going to do. I had an amazing time on the show

If someone said you had to choose between dancing and acting – one or the other for the rest of your life – what would you say?
I would tell them screw you! [Laughs.] I get asked that question a lot and I honestly don’t know which one I would choose. Each fulfils something different inside of me. And if I was told that I couldn’t do something, then I would want to do it more. That would be a very hard decision for me. As of right now, I feel very rewarded by the work I did on Footloose. I’ve never felt so rewarded. And you know, I have won world championships [in dance] and my first album debuted at number one, which is fantastic. But I never really felt this rewarded. It makes me happy to express how proud I am of Footloose. So I don’t know…I want to continue on this path.

What’s it like dating Ryan Seacrest – the busiest man in Hollywood?
He has to keep up with me! You laugh, but it’s probably true. The good thing is that we both have the same personality. We’re both very driven. We’re very ambitious. We’re very career-oriented. We’re both in the entertainment world – “the industry” – but we have different jobs. So we get the work ethic and we get the commitment that we have towards it and we’re very supportive of each other, yet we have no competition. It’s actually a very great situation that we’re in.

When do you have time to see each other?
We definitely schedule. Yeah, it’s pretty funny. We have assistants and people figuring out which city we are in and like when I will have a couple of hours to fly to see him and that kind of stuff. But you know, I’ve said this before – when it’s worth it, it’s worth it, and you just make it work.

Any wedding bells in your immediate future?
I think we’re really happy where we are at this moment and I don’t think there’s any kind of pressure to do that. We’re just going to keep going. But if that ever happened, I don’t think it would be a big deal. It would be something very low-key. Not quite Vegas. But that’s not on our minds right now. We’re very happy with where we’re at and what we’re doing. You might as well be happy with doing what you’re doing than try and force something.

What’s something about you that people might be surprised to discover?
I don’t think there’s a lot that people don’t know about me. I basically talk about myself 24/7. I’ve said in the past that I’m an adrenaline junkie and I like extreme sports and basically things that I think I may kill myself doing [she ponders the question in silence for a moment]. I really love food. I love to eat. I love to try new restaurants. I really love to cook. And I love the presentation. So I have to make the plate look amazing and sizzle the sauces. I like to bake as well. That’s one of my hidden things that I would eventually like to do. I think I would like to go and live in France or Italy for three weeks to a month and really learn to cook. But I would be extremely obese because I wouldn’t be able to cook and not eat everything that I make.

Does it feel like you’ve already done an awful lot for someone who’s only 23?
It’s so crazy. I feel like I’ve lived five different lives in my short life.

What gives Julianne Hough the giggles?

Two adorable furballs that follow her wherever she goes: her dogs, Lexi and Harley. And since the Cavalier King Charles spaniels are always around, there’s reason for Hough to smile “every day.”

“They just make me laugh,” the dancer-actress told PEOPLE at a new beachside shoot for Proactiv in Los Angeles on Wednesday. “Today, they made me laugh. They’ve never really been on the beach, and they were rolling around and playing. We were all cracking up. It was great.”

Hough, who does an “utterly great” impression of Harley, is the kind of dog mom who throws birthday parties for her pups, and she’s looking forward to pampering them even more than usual during the holiday season. They, along with Hough’s sister’s dogs, will be getting presents this December – and why not? “They’re my kids,” she said. “They’re my babies.”

Lexi, 3, and Harley, almost 1, are best friends, but they have distinctly different personalities.

“Harley looks up so much to Lexi, it’s ridiculous,” Hough said. “Lexi’s the little princess who just wants to please, and Harley’s the little devil. They’re great.”

Julianne Hough loved “experimenting” with her look on Dancing with the Stars.

The professional dancer had a great time on the popular TV show because she enjoys playing around with her hair and make-up.

She also adored dressing up in the various costumes.

“I love fashion, I love beauty, I love makeup, I love hair,” she told People. “When I was on Dancing with the Stars, it was fun to experiment … I hadn’t been able to do that so much because I was afraid [of my look being] so different.”

The Footloose actress recently chopped off her long blonde locks.

Julianne wasn’t worried about the change and finds it liberating to try new things.

“I took the bold move of cutting off my hair, so I might as well keep going on the bold move streak,” she laughed. “I can look different with each hairstyle that I do, so I almost feel like I’m playing a different character every time I get ready.”

The star has tried many different hair colours from red to brown.

However, she does feel that she is a blonde at heart.

“I’ll always have blonde hair when I’m not working,” she revealed. “I’m trying to get my hair healthy so I’m not colouring it right now.”

Despite her love of theatrics, Julianne admitted that sometimes the casual look is the most comfortable.

Although she adores trying new looks she isn’t afraid to go completely natural.

“I think the thing that’s most me, especially right now, is my hair up in a pony that’s rolled up into a messy bun. No makeup and just casual,” she smiled.