Posts Tagged ‘Dennis Quaid’

Kenny Wormald, a 25-year-old Boston native, will star as Ren in the 2011 remake of Footloose. Wormald is a professional dancer and has had dancing roles in MTV’s “Dancelife” and starred in Center Stage: Turn It Up. Dennis Quaid and former “Dancing With The Stars” contestant Julianne Hough will star opposite the young actor as the Reverend Moore and his daughter Ariel.

The newcomer is catching a big break with the role, since it was supposed to go to a much higher profile actor…twice. Zac Efron was originally cast for the role but backed out not wanting to be pigeonholed as a musical man after his previous roles in the High School Musical series and Hairspray. Next in line was the similarly coiffed Chace Crawford, who had signed on then dropped out due to conflicts with the WB’s “Gossip Girl” shooting schedule.

The 1984 original launched Kevin Bacon’s career and hopefully Wormald will follow in his dancing footsteps. Ren will still turn the town upside-down with his dance moves, which will be choreographed by Jamal Sims this time around. Sims most recently worked on Madonna’s “Sticky Sweet” tour.