<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" \nAs Superstorm Sandy descended on New York City, rain and storm winds rattled the windows of downtown&amp;#039;s Crosby Street Hotel. Inside, actress Julianne Hough and her boyfriend, Ryan Seacrest\u2014Hollywood&amp;#039;s fast-rising, workaholic power couple\u2014were stranded and alone. Their cell phones were, for once, strangely quiet. So they curled up in a king-size bed and hibernated with fellow bears: the potty-mouthed comedy Ted on the hotel TV and an enormous canister of gummy bears open on the duvet. &amp;quot;We couldn&amp;#039;t work,&amp;quot; Hough says, the next day. &amp;quot;We just got to stay in our bed and in our pajamas\u2014until the power cut out.&amp;quot; Let&amp;#039;s just say they probably never saw the end of that talking-teddy-bear flick. &amp;quot;It was great,&amp;quot; says Hough, smiling conspiratorially. &amp;quot;We put on some candles, had some sexy time....Ha!&amp;quot;  Hough flashes her 500-watt smile and swoops into a chair at a long table in a new hotel, this one with hot water and electricity. She&amp;#039;s in a great mood, despite one worry: &amp;quot;I haven&amp;#039;t showered in two days. I hope I&amp;#039;m not smelling from this side of the table.&amp;quot;  She looks perfect, of course, in a black cashmere sweater, slim black pants, and glossy leather flats from her new Sole Society collection. All expressive laughs, aw-shucks charm, and that broad showgirl smile, she appears exactly as her fans might expect: the poised young competitor who hustled her way to two Dancing With the Stars championships in 2007, sold a number-one country album shortly after, and went on to star in Rock of Ages and Footloose. Hough is the kind of triple threat you don&amp;#039;t find much in Hollywood anymore.         That pretty-girl demeanor is one reason director Lasse Hallstr\u00F6m nearly didn&amp;#039;t cast her in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks&amp;#039; bestseller Safe Haven, opening February 14. He watched her audition with Josh Duhamel via Skype\u2014Hough in Los Angeles, Hallstr\u00F6m in New York. &amp;quot;I had a perception that she was just a very light and charming girl that might not have the emotional range,&amp;quot; he says. Safe Haven is the story of Katie, a girl who survives horrific abuse at the hands of an ex-boyfriend. She escapes to North Carolina, where she eventually learns to open up and accept the love of a handsome widower. Duhamel, who plays the widower, thought she could do it. &amp;quot;I told Lasse, &amp;#039;There is a sadness in that room, something more complicated that the character needed to have. And that&amp;#039;s what she has.&amp;#039;&amp;quot; Hough fought for a second audition and got the part. Hallstr\u00F6m says he was surprised to find something different when he saw her up close: a woman who was &amp;quot;honest and direct and wonderfully fearless.&amp;quot; He was even more surprised to find that his star, who seemed so perfectly composed on the surface, had her own painful, hidden story of abuse. A Secret Past When Hough was just 10 years old, she thought up a very detailed set of goals to work on\u2014and then set about meeting them. &amp;quot;By the time I was 18, I wanted to be a professional dancer: I happened to be on Dancing With the Stars. When I was 19, I wanted to be a singer: At that age, I had my first record out. I said by the time I&amp;#039;m 22, I wanted to be a movie star....&amp;quot; Hough is 24 now, and she&amp;#039;s been working on those goals since she was a girl in South Jordan, Utah. All four grandparents and both parents were dancers, so Hough, the youngest of five kids, grew up performing with her Mormon family. Her parents divorced when she was 10. At the time, her brother Derek was studying dance at London&amp;#039;s prestigious Italia Conti Academy of the Arts, and when a slot opened up, she joined him. She ended up winning a five-year scholarship, training relentlessly, and rarely seeing or talking to her family. She became a world-class dancer...but at a great cost.  &amp;quot;I was 10 years old looking like I was 28, being a very sensual dancer,&amp;quot; she says. A precociously seductive smile became her public mask\u2014and she rarely took it off. &amp;quot;I was a tormented little kid who had to put on this sexy facade because that was my job and my life. But my heart was the same, and I was this innocent little girl. I wanted so much love.&amp;quot;  With her parents an ocean away, Hough says the adults around her took advantage. &amp;quot;While I was in London, I was abused, mentally, physically, everything,&amp;quot; she says. In what way or by whom exactly, she declines to say: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m a very forgiving person, and I don&amp;#039;t want to hurt anybody. What&amp;#039;s past is past.&amp;quot; A ripple of tension tightens a face that is always so relaxed and bright, like a sheet being pulled tight. It got worse, she says, &amp;quot;when I started hitting puberty, when I started becoming a woman and stopped being a little girl.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;You can kind of hear the quiver in my voice....&amp;quot; She pauses but only a beat. She&amp;#039;s going to nail this move, even if her ankle is broken and her feet blistered. &amp;quot;This is the farthest I&amp;#039;ve ever gotten into my London situation,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;I was told if I ever went back to the United States, three things were going to happen. One: I was going to amount to nothing. Two: I was going to work at Whataburger. And three: I was going to end up a slut. So, it was like, I can&amp;#039;t go back. I have to be this person.&amp;quot; For more of Julianne&amp;#039;s exclusive interview with Cosmopolitan pick up the new issue on newsstands Jan. 8. BONUS: Did you know you can get your monthly issue of Cosmo on your e-reader? It&amp;#039;s the same issue you&amp;#039;d buy on the newsstand, but you can flip through it with the touch of your finger. Touch your device below to download. You&amp;#039;ll be reading your favorite magazine in just minutes. Have a Kindle? Touch here. Have a NOOK? Touch here. Have an iPad? Touch here. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/news/a4123/julianne-hough-february-cover/?src=global_footer>