For eights years as a professional dancer on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," Peta Murgatroyd trained celebrities who were out of their comfort zone on the dance floor. Week after week, she helped her partners pull off the waltz, the jive, the pasodoble, and even the Argentine tango. Yet, she found her dancing shoe on the other foot when she decided to audition for her first professional acting role in the new film, "Faith, Hope & Love." Suddenly, she was the one showing some vulnerability, trading a familiar dance studio for a movie studio.
In the film, Murgatroyd plays Faith Turley, a divorced dance instructor who is desperately trying to avoid a second heartbreak of losing her dance studio. That's when she meets Jimmy Elpidas, portrayed in the film by Robert Krantz (Back to the Future). When we meet Jimmy, he's still grieving over the death of his wife, whom he lost to cancer. His friendship with Faith - and a few dance lessons - allows both of them to start the healing process. The cast is rounded out by Ed Asner, Corbin Bernsen, Michael Richards, and Candace Cameron Bure's daughter Natasha Bure.
Playing herself in a reality show, Murgatroyd quickly found, was a lot easier than portraying a fictional character. Yet, she was able to draw some parallels from Faith to her own life.
"She's very vulnerable and wears her heart on her sleeve, and that's kind of who I am," Murgatroyd told Townhall last week.
She can also relate to Faith in the sense that she too has used dance as a healing tool. When her grandmother passed while she was on tour in New Zealand, for instance, Peta was determined to throw herself into her craft.
"You can fix it through dance," she explained. "You can let your emotions out and be another character for a second and forget about what 's happened. It's therapy for a lot of us."
While Murgatroyd was intrigued by the plot of "Faith, Hope & Love," she says it was the cast and crew who really convinced her she was joining something special.
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"I fell in love with the people I met," she told Townhall.
Krantz in particular, she said, is "such a warm soul."
The two made a perfect team, according to Peta. Between takes, she'd help him perfect his dance moves and he'd coach her in her acting. As for his dance technique, Murgatroyd said Krantz had "all the best qualities in a student" and was "willing to try everything."
She's not kidding. The actor even tries out some hip hop moves in the middle of the movie and dances on top of a rooftop. Murgatroyd mused that Krantz would have probably done fairly well on "Dancing With the Stars," because he has the personality to match the moves.
Although Murgatroyd, a New Zealand-born Australian professional Latin dancer, has proven herself to be an insanely talented dancer, she said acting is something that has always been on her radar. In fact, she revealed that she originally came to Los Angeles with the intent of becoming an actress. Yet, she found the competition overwhelming and found more success in dance, eventually signing her first "Dancing With the Stars" contract. She said she loved her years on the show, but "Faith, Hope & Love" was "what I needed for my soul."
"When you become really good at a craft and you're at your peak - I felt like I had done that," Murgatroyd said. "I wanted to move on and learn something new."
It was "a great transition," she noted, but one that threw her "right into the deep end" with her role of leading lady.
Murgatroyd is still thankful for dance, however, because it brought her to her now-husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy, a fellow "Dancing With the Stars" alum, who ironically plays Faith's ex-husband in the film. In reality, Maks and Peta are still happily married with an adorable 2-year-old son, Shai.
Maks, Peta, and their 2-year-old son Shai.
Murgatroyd said it's a joy having the opportunity to work so close and so often with her husband.
"Faith, Hope & Love" is in theaters now.
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