Kevin Bacon marks 40 years of ‘Footloose’ with special tribute

Kevin Bacon, in honour of 40 years of the Footloose movie’s release, returned to the high school where 1984’s was filmed.

Just hours before prom began, the actor, 65, gave a speech to the school’s student body in Payson, Utah, on Saturday, via The Hollywood Reporter.

“Go Lions! Here we are on this beautiful, beautiful spot on this beautiful, beautiful day,” Bacon began, taking to the stage placed in the centre of the football stadium.

“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,” he quipped.

The students at the school had started the campaign to get the attention of the actor with the hashtag #bacontopayson in posts and re-creating movie scenes.

“When I first heard about this Bacon to Payson thing, I was like ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ But you were all just tireless,” Bacon praised the “unrelenting” students.

“You talked me into it,” Bacon admitted in his speech.

He added that it was “great to see that kind of commitment to anything,” crediting the “amazing the power” the hit movie has to this day as it “just kind of bring people together, and connect on the basic ideas there are behind the movie.”

To show their appreciation for Bacon’s return, students offered to help support the SixDegrees.org foundation by pledging to create 5,000 “essential resource kits” for youth and schools, out of the nonprofit’s 40,000 goal.