We haven’t seen Chace Crawford on the party scene for months, and now we know why: Dude is training hard for his upcoming role in the Footloose reboot. Crawford took some time away from his training to spend a late night out at the Cinema Society screening of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee last night, which stars his Gossip Girl co-star Blake Lively. He was reticent at first, telling us that he’s training “here and there” to get into Kevin Bacon–circa-1984 shape. “It’s coming along,” he said modestly. “Can’t give away too much. Uh, it’s pretty rigorous, though,” he added.
Crawford said that he grew up playing sports, and the dance training is similar. “I’m an athletic person, I like to work out, so it’s fun for me,” he said. “I kind of got to the grindstone, you know,” he added after a pause. He’s working with two trainers, but would not be specific about exactly what kinds of dance he’s learning. “I can’t get too detailed with it, but it’s an all-around training process. It’s very intense. But I’m learning exponentially, which is good,” he said. “I started off in the frustration zone, and now it’s gotten to where I enjoy going every day.” Crawford says he’s well balanced now, and that he mainly felt the sore muscles during the first two weeks of training, which was eight months ago. He says shooting is scheduled to begin sometime in March, which adds up to about a year of training. He must be in, uh, very good shape.
