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Two-time Dancing with the Stars champion Julianne Hough doesn’t have to shimmy for her supper in her latest movie role. Her leading-lady role in the latest Nicholas Sparks movie, Safe Haven , represents her first straight acting gig – no dancing or singing required! Hough was the guest of honor at the premiere that Self magazine hosted on Monday night in Manhattan. (The actress is also the magazine’s March cover girl.) Co-star Josh Duhamel was also on hand and told me that men ain’t afraid of no chick flicks: “Guys are sensitive beings too who just want to see a good movie,” he said. According to Gavin DeGraw, who performs on the Safe Haven soundtrack, stylish facial hair is also a plus. He said it was Ryan Gosling’s “really cool beard” that made him a fan of The Notebook. I also got to ask director Lasse Hallstrom , who’s recent Salmon Fishing in the Yemen was nominated for several Golden Globes , why the industry doesn’t take romance more seriously. He responded that “romantic movies tend to push it a bit too far into sentimentality…I try to counter that by trying to be real with those performances.” Check out my full red carpet interview below: Follow Grace Randolph on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
After zooming to fame with TV’s Las Vegas and the Transformers series (with the odd detour into Katherine Heigl rom-com territory), Josh Duhamel is coming full circle, in a way: The onetime All My Children soap star set to step into the next Nicholas Sparks romantic weepie, Safe Haven , opposite Footloose / Rock of Ages starlet Julianne Hough . The Sparks flick looks to be one-time would-be dentist Duhamel’s first straight romantic film role yet that doesn’t overlap into romantic comedy ( When in Rome , Life as We Know It ) or ensemble ( The Romantics , New Year’s Eve ). For Hough, Safe Haven will mark her first work in a non-performance-based role (as in Footloose , Burlesque , and Rock of Ages ) aside from her upcoming turn in Diablo Cody’s directorial debut . I say it’s about time Duhamel embrace his leading man status in the kind of movie that has more explosive sighs then explosions. Unleash that inner Leo du Pres, you gorgeous (and, per Sparks tradition) tortured man! Lasse Hallstrom is set to direct, with filming to begin in June for a pre-Valentine’s Week 2013 release. Soak up the synopsis and ponder: just how Sparksian will Safe Haven be? Safe Haven is an affirming and suspenseful story about a young woman’s struggle to find love again after she arrives in a small North Carolina town. Her reluctance to join the tight-knit community raises questions about her past. Slowly, she begins putting down roots, and gains the courage to start a relationship with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children. But dark secrets intrude on her new life with such terror that she is forced to rediscover the meaning of sacrifice and rely on the power of love in this deeply moving romantic thriller. [via HitFix ]