Julianne Hough Stumping for Rock of Ages

She gained National fame as one of the dancing professionals – and two-time champion – on Dancing With the Stars, but 23-year-old Julianne Hough has moved on and up from the small screen these days. Most currently, her new movie Rock of Ages hits theaters next week.

As part of her promotion efforts for Rock of Ages, in which she co-stars with Tom Cruise, Hough opened up to Interview magazine and will be featured in the June/July issue.

When asked what it was like to work with Tom Cruise, Hough assured he was very down-to-earth and easy to work with.

“I think my generation will always look at him as Tom Cruise, the movie star. But the thing about Tom is that he’s super-cool, and whatever nerves I had going into a scene with him, afterwards he would say how funny it was or what a great job I did. So that really made me feel confident,” Hough said.

America got to know Hough as one of the professional ballroom dancers on Dancing With the Stars, which she participated in through season eight. She became a two-time champion (and the youngest professional champion) and was nominated for a 2007 Creative Arts Primetime Emmy for her work on the show.

Hough left the show to focus on a career as a country music singer and released her first album, self-titled, in 2008. It debuted as number one on the Billboard Country Album chart.

She has also started trying her hand at acting, landing a starring role in the 2011 remake of Footloose and now Rock of Ages.

Hough’s star certainly seems to be rising, and to top it all off she is dating the modern-day Dick Clark, also known as Ryan Seacrest. The couple tries to maintain a low-key existence in Hollywood, but avoiding the paparazzi can be pretty tricky these days.

“We don’t really go out when we’re at home,” Hough explained to Interview. “We don’t go to places to get pap’d. The only times we ever get photographed together is when we’re on vacation, because we can’t really control it, you know?”

Hough also shared a bit about where she came from – and it was a loooong way from Hollywood. She is the youngest of five children and grew up in a Mormon household. Although she says she is not currently very active in the church, she does appreciate her upbringing and is not afraid to talk about it.

“As far as being LDS (Latter-Day Saints), I think that with any religion, no matter what religion it is, people are going to make their own stereotypes. But you know what, who cares? The thing that I loved about growing up Mormon is that I had morals and standards instilled in me as a kid – like, you need to be a nice person, and a thoughtful person, and if anybody is trying to dog that, then I think that’s rude,” Hough said.

Overall, Hough seems well adjusted – and certainly accomplished – for being so young. She seems destined for many more things in Hollywood, and it will be interesting to see what talent she tries out next, considering that she’s been successful thus far in everything from ballroom dancing to acting.