Talking to the two stars of Step Up Revolution

By Maddy Marr7/28/2012

Talk about Miami heat. If you saw groups of young, lithe people jumping around our city last summer, you may have been witnessing Step Up Revolution coming to life. The movie, No. 4 in the Step Up franchise, stars So You Think You Can Dance contestant Kathryn McCormick and former mixed martial arts fighter Ryan Guzman as a modern day Romeo and Juliet who can really bust a move. Guzman plays a flash mob leader; McCormick is Emily, a sheltered young woman who yearns to follow her passion, dance. We spoke to the duo (rumored to be dating) at a recent press junket at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

You guys filmed the movie during some of South Florida’s hottest months. How did you deal?

KM: We had a lot of umbrellas to keep the sun off, and [the crew] were always dabbing us down. There were some scenes that it was OK to be sweaty but others when we were just walking and talking when we shouldn’t have been. There would be sweat just running down our faces.

RG: The wardrobe people would have like six or seven of the same shirts for me. They would be like, ‘Ryan, stop sweating. You’re looking a little damp.’ [Laughs].

How much did you prepare for the roles? Did anyone get injured?

RG: We trained for about three weeks about nine hours every single day. It was intense, like boot camp. I strained my butt. I went to the hospital for that. There’s a couple of moves where I jump over some people’s heads, and afterward I went to the choreographer and said, ‘My butt hurts. Just this one cheek!’ I iced it and stretched it, that’s about the extent of it.

KM: I had this one injury. We were doing this contemporary number near the finale on a cement stage. I stubbed my toe, but I had so much adrenaline that I didn’t feel it. That night it started swelling, and since then it’s been fat and won’t go down. I’m pretty sure it’s broken, but I can’t rebreak it now so I’ll just leave it this way!