There’s a little Latin flavor in the remake of the 1984 classic “Footloose,” which opens nationwide today… Her name is Ziah Colon.

The Puerto Rican actress landed the coveted role of high school student Rusty Rodriguez in the everybody-has-the-right-to-dance film—the role Sarah Jessica Parker played in the original—despite having zero formal dance training.

When asked if she had any dance experience, “I said ‘Yes!’” admits the actress, who is appearing in her first feature film “because that’s what actors do – we say ‘yes!’”

Luckily, the Atlanta-native only had to learn one choreographed number for the movie.

“I like to tell people that I have rhythm by default, just because I’m Hispanic,” says Colon, who began her professional acting career in 2001.

After her initial audition for the role, Colon was called back several times by director Craig Brewer who was convinced she was absolutely right for the part of Rusty.

“I thought she was a very simple girl. Seeing the original, that’s how she was,” Colon recently told MoviesOnline.com. “She was headstrong, confident in how she thought. I read the screenplay and I listened to Craig and decided to keep that timidness that she has in the original. I created her with what I had, not from the original. I used my own essence.”

It’s that essence that helps Colon shine in this dance-charged remake, as she steals the spotlight from the film’s stars Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough.

So what’s next for the actress who has appeared in Lifetime’s “Army Wives” and “Drop Dead Diva”?

“We’re considering certain options right now. We have some stuff, I haven’t attached to anything just yet,” says Colon. “I think the sky’s the limit. We’ll see what happens.”

“Footloose” is now showing at a theater near you. Click here to check local listings.