Chace Crawford Talks ‘Footloose’: ‘I Need To Start Stretching Now’

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Chace Crawford,Kevin Bacon,Kenny Ortega,Zac Efron,Gossip Girl,Julianne Hough,Dancing With the Stars,Music,Movies

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Chace Crawford attends the PEOPLE-TIME-FORTUNE-CNN White House Correspondent’s dinner cocktail party at Hilton Hotel on May 9, 2009 in Washington, DC.
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Chace Crawford walks to the ‘Twelve’ movie set in the Lincoln Housing Project on April 29, 2009 in New York City
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Chace Crawford and Leighton Meester film on location for ‘Gossip Girl’ on the streets of Manhattan on March 16, 2009 in New York City
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Chace Crawford and Matthew Settle attend the White House Correspondents’ dinner, May 9, 2009 in Washington, D.C.

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FIRST PUBLISHED: May 28, 2009 10:33 AM EDT
LAST UPDATED: May 28, 2009 10:58 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

“Gossip Girl” star Chace Crawford says he was happy to step into the lead role in the “Footloose” remake after Zac Efron stepped down to pursue movies with a little less song and dance.

“I know Zac and we’re actually friends,” Chace told Entertainment Weekly. “He’s gotta make the best choice for his career at this point and I have to make the best for mine and luckily it worked out for both of us.”

The “Footloose” reboot might be a light bubblegum movie with dancing and singing, but landing the lead role was no easy task according to Chace.

“It was, like, five hours of the most rigorous tests ever,” he explained. “I walked out very confident.”

As for some of the original movie’s elaborate choreography – Chace said fans shouldn’t expect to see him doing back flips.

“I don’t know if the gymnastics [high bar] scene is going to make it,” the actor , who is reportedly about to start a training regimen conceived by director Kenny Ortega, told the mag. “I’ve got some movement in me, but I’m not a dancer… I need to start stretching now.”

Chace might claim to not to be a trained dancer, but he could have some help in the form of a professional coming his way.

A rep for Paramount confirmed to EW that “Dancing With The Stars” sensation Julianne Hough will screen-test this week for the singing female lead.

“It’s a much more singing-intensive movie for the female lead, " producer Neil Meron told the mag.

Fellow producer Craig Zadan – who also produced the original version with Kevin Bacon – said fans will hear some of the original movie’s music in the new movie.

“The classic hit songs from the movie will be sung,” he told EW.

“There will be new songs that will be written by new artists, and those will be soundtrack songs.” Neil added. “It’s not really a burst-into-song musical. Any songs that are sung are coming out of an organic place.”

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