“I think she could tell I was nervous,” Hough recalled of working with Cher, on ‘Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen’
Julianne Hough was brought to tears by Cher on the set of Burlesque — in a good way.
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen Sunday, Aug. 18, Hough recalled starring in the 2010 musical film, where her “first-ever scene” was with Cher, 78.
“It was when my character Georgia was in the bathroom throwing up ’cause she found out she was pregnant. It was my first real film that I had ever done, and I had just been crying for take after take after take after take,” said the actress, singer and dancer, 36.
When it was time to turn the camera on her, Hough wasn’t sure how she was “gonna get tears out of my face, ’cause nobody told me that you don’t have to do it all the time, until your take comes.”
At that point, Cher “knocked on the door” and “came into the bathroom stall with me and she goes, ‘I just want you to know that you deserve to be here. You are so amazing,’ ” Hough went on.
The gesture made Hough immediately dissolve into tears.
“I think she could tell I was nervous, so that feeling of feeling seen and known by Cher, she made me feel so good that it made me cry,” she recalled.
“And then she’s like, ‘All right, let’s roll,’ ” Hough continued, laughing. “So I don’t know if it was that she actually meant that or if she was like, ‘I know how to make her feel good to get those tears going.’ It was very sweet.”
Burlesque costarred Christina Aguilera as aspiring performer Ali, who moves to Los Angeles and takes a job at a burlesque club owned by a woman named Tess, portrayed by Cher.
Aside from Hough, Cher and Aguilera, 23, the movie also featured performances from Cam Gigandet, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Eric Dane and Alan Cumming, among others.
In September 2023, Entertainment Weekly reported that Aguilera was set to executive produce a stage adaptation of the movie musical, citing a source. Titled Burlesque: The Musical, the stage adaptation is written by Steven Antin, who wrote and directed the movie, the outlet reported.
The upcoming production is expected to include songs that Aguilera, Diane Warren and Sia wrote for the 2010 movie, as well as new music written by Todrick Hall and Jess Foley, per EW. The show is expected to premiere in the U.K., though a timeframe for its debut has not been released.
While reps for Antin, Aguilera and Warren did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment at the time, Antin, who made his feature directorial debut with Burlesque, did confirm to EW in an email that “the stage musical adaptation is happening.”
“Very exciting,” he added.
