Christopher Atkins recalls how he lost a career-changing role in his 20s despite his 'Blue Lagoon' success

Christopher Atkins has shared that his drinking once cost him the lead role in Footloose to Kevin Bacon.

The 65-year-old actor spoke about the missed opportunity during a Q&A panel at Fanboy Expo Knoxville in Tennessee, saying the filmmakers wanted to meet him before making the casting official, but he showed up after drinking.

“I was a mess back then. I was partying way too much,” he said. “I told them, ‘I can’t come in right now. I’ve been drinking.’ But they said they needed to see me.” 

Atkins said he went to the meeting anyway and ruined his chances. 

“It wasn't even an audition. I already had the part, but I was so messed up that they decided to pass on me,” he recalled.

The role eventually went to Kevin Bacon, whose performance in the 1984 film became one of his most famous.

Atkins also shared that he is now nearly 40 years sober.

The actor looked back on how his Hollywood career began, saying he never planned to become an actor. 

“I only wanted to play baseball,” he said.

He later signed with Ford Models in New York and auditioned for The Blue Lagoon in his late teens. After several callbacks, he landed the lead role opposite Brooke Shields in the 1980 film.

Atkins admitted he knew almost nothing about acting at the time.

“I didn't know what a camera looked like. I had no idea what a mark was,” he said, adding that he had to travel to Fiji to film the movie.

The success of The Blue Lagoon quickly turned him into a teen star. “My whole life changed,” Atkins said. 

“One day you're nobody, and the next you're on the cover of magazines everywhere.”