Dancing with the star

Steps ahead

One may be forgiven for thinking Hollywood actor Ryan Guzman is a trained dancer. But the ‘Step Up’ actor, who sprung to success with his fluid moves, splits and cutting-edge styles, is not. It was after hours of rehearsals and many falls later that he turned into the flawless dancer that he is now, the moves staying in line with the character. Voila! there has been no looking back since then.

With such films as ‘Step Up Revolution’, ‘Step Up All In’, ‘The Boy Next Door’ and TV series like ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and ‘Heroes Reborn’, Guzman’s career speaks of a single-minded dedication.

He recollects growing up in a Mexican household — family-oriented and with a love for sports — and moving his way up Hollywood. Was he always dancing at home? “Being a Mexican-American, I did — I self-cleaned the house with the moves. But I was never a dancer. I learned dancing through ‘Step Up Revolution’, working a lot and training with the best dancers in the industry. We would rehearse whenever we had time. I would practise nine hours a day apart from some additional hours,” he remembers.

The tough part, he admits, was to match the level of professional dancers. “But dancing is universal,’’ and that he attributes this to the success of the series, the world over. 

‘Step Up All In’  takes one of the most popular dance franchises in film history to new heights. It follows Miami street dancer Sean Asa as he tries to make it in Hollywood. But the odds were too many to make it in the professional dance world.

Guzman retraces his steps to Hollywood and living life on the edge.
   Was his early days in Los Angeles like that of Sean’s? “Sean was pretty close to myself. All he had in front of him was his work. He is very family-oriented like me. In the story, there were lot of aspects that were similar,” he explains.

“I never thought I would become an actor. I played baseball, took up modelling and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). I was just starting out as an MMA fighter in LA. But acting found me,” he says.

Martial arts did help him to a great extent in acting. “Personally too, it has made me confident,” he adds.

Then there’s the much-talked about role in ‘The Boy Next Door’ with, well, Jennifer Lopez.
Ask him ‘was he nervous?” and he guffaws. “No I wasn’t. Jennifer was great. I have met her a couple of times before the shoot. We also worked for a week before filming a scene. She’s an amazing woman,” he says.

Meanwhile, he has had his dose of Bollywood films. “Yeah. I love Bollywood, definitely. I’ve seen them. In the end, you have the cast coming together and dancing,” he says. “And yes, I would like to come to India,” he adds.

From now on, it’s more than dancing for him. “I would like to get more into drama and action. I am currently working on a cool character, it’s not experimental, more dramatic.”  
   Clearly and by his own admission, ‘The Boy Next Door’ has grown up.

(‘Step Up All in’ will air on July 9, 6.30 pm on Sony Pix.)