Actor Kevin Bacon confirmed that he’ll return to the high school where the iconic dance movie “Footloose” was filmed more than four decades ago.
Students at Payson High School in Payson, Utah, have spent months working on a social media campaign using the hashtag “BaconToPayson” to convince the actor to visit their school for prom this year. Students did so by recreating scenes from the movie and posting dance sequences on TikTok, per Today.
That effort was successful, as the actor promised to visit the school on the day of the prom. Bacon announced he planned to revisit the school 41 years after filming “Footloose.”
“I have been so impressed with everything that’s been going on there with this crazy idea to get me to come back,” Bacon said in a video announcement to the students. “I’ve been amazed at the work that all of you have been putting into this, with the musical and the flash mobs and the re-creations.”
“It hasn’t gone unnoticed by me, not to mention the fact that you tied in SixDegrees.org, our foundation, and are trying to figure out ways to give back to your community,” he continued. “It’s really inspirational, so thank you. Thank you. And I’m gonna come. I gotta come!”
Students at Payson High School, where "Footloose" was filmed, are on an all-out mission to have star Kevin Bacon attend their prom.
In a TODAY exclusive, @KayleeHartung reports on their viral campaign — and @kevinbacon's responds live! pic.twitter.com/03iduiYDUB
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 22, 2024
Bacon’s upcoming visit to the school is significant because this is the 40th anniversary of the film’s release, and Payson High School will be moving to a new location next year.
The actor became an overnight sensation after “Footloose” premiered, but he said last year that the role didn’t align with his previous acting goals.
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“When I did the dance movie, I was not a dancer. I wasn’t trained as a dancer,” Bacon said on an episode of the “Podcrushed” podcast, per Variety. “If I’m being honest, I didn’t even really understand that it was a dance movie. I thought it was just a movie, and then, where they would indicate that there was dancing, I would just get up.”
“When I became a pop star, the last thing I wanted to be was a pop star,” the actor continued. “I had already moved into, ‘I want to be Dustin Hoffman or Meryl or John Cazale or De Niro. I want to work with Scorsese. I want to do Chekhov.’ You know what I mean? I was so into what my idea of a serious actor was, and all of a sudden I was given this thing that was completely not a serious actor. So I rejected it, full on. I tried to self-sabotage that piece of myself and my popularity.”