40 years after shooting the iconic film Footloose, Kevin Bacon is returning to the place where he fought to make dancing legal.
Students from Payson High School in Utah, where the 1984 movie was filmed, have been pushing for the actor to attend prom before the school is relocated to another building next year.
And during a live segment on Today, he agreed to their "promposal."
Payson students have worked hard to catch the actor's attention. Not only have they shared content on social media with the hashtag #BaconToPayson, but they also organized ways to support Bacon's foundation SixDegrees.org.
Their efforts did not go unnoticed, and on Friday during a video call with the Payson student body, Bacon said:
“I have been so impressed with everything that’s been going on there with this crazy idea to get me to come back."
Adding that he's been "amazed" by the energy and effort the students have put into their campaign, he continued:
“It’s really inspirational, so thank you, thank you. And I’m going to come. I got to come."
His response, of course, was met with a celebration of cheering and applause, and Bacon finished:
“Thank you, guys. Let’s dance.”
You can watch the segment below.
Kevin Bacon surprises students of 'Footloose' high school!youtu.be
As you can imagine, people on social media were almost as excited about Bacon's return to Payson as the students themselves.
This isn't the first time students at Payson have tried to get the actor to make a return visit.
In 2009, Bacon responded to their efforts via video message with an inspirational message.
“Don’t be afraid to be different."
"Remember, it takes all kinds of people to make this world go around, so be good to each other, take care of each other and don’t forget, there’s nothing wrong with shaking what you got."
On a related note, Bacon's—err, Ren McCormack’s—locker is still standing and functional at Payson, complete with a plaque that reads:
“Congrats! You’ve got Kevin Bacon’s locker!”
We can't wait to see what dance moves he brings to his old stomping grounds!
Well done, students of Payson High School 👏👏👏
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
