It’s been 40 years since was released, and Kevin Bacon returned to the high school where the musical drama was filmed.
“Go Lions! Here we are on this beautiful, beautiful spot on this beautiful, beautiful day,” Bacon said, according to ABC4. “It’s been a long time – 40 years – that just blows my mind, you know. Things look a little different around here. I’d say the thing that looks the most different is me.”
Payson High School in Utah was one of the film locations of Footloose, and Bacon made an appearance on Saturday after the students campaigned for the actor to attend their prom.
“You were all just tireless. Unrelenting … You talked me into it,” Bacon said. “I think it’s great to see that kind of commitment to anything. I also think that it’s amazing the power that this movie has had to just kind of bring people together, and connect on the basic ideas there are behind the movie – you know, standing up to authority sometimes, and to being forgiving to people who are not exactly the same as you, and for standing up for your own freedoms and your right to express yourself, and for having compassion for other people.”
To show their gratitude, the students offered to help Bacon create 5,000 “essential resources kits” that Bacon’s foundation, SixDegrees.org, initiated as part of their celebration of the film’s release.
“By turning what could be just a movie star coming back to get a pat on the back, into something really positive. And that’s what we’re going to do today when we build these kits,” Bacon added. “Thank you so much for your commitment to giving back to your community and to the people you’re sharing this planet with, and I’m thrilled we’re going to be working here together today.”
Footloose, a film directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dean Pitchford, was released in 1984. Bacon starred in the musical drama alongside the likes of Lori Singer, Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow.