Kevin Bacon returns to ‘Footloose’ high school, celebrates film’s 40th anniversary

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood actor Kevin Bacon revisited Payson High School, the Utah location where his iconic 1984 movie ‘Footloose’ was filmed.

He returned to commemorate the educational institution’s final prom before its demolition and relocation, reports ‘People’ magazine.

During his visit, Bacon sat in a director’s chair bearing the inscription “Mr. Bacon”, toured the high school where he filmed his breakthrough role, posed for selfies, and autographed shirts and memorabilia.

Acknowledging the 40th anniversary since the release of ‘Footloose’, Bacon addressed those in attendance, stating, “It’s been 40 years. I mean, that just blows my mind. Things look a little different around here. I’d say the thing that looks the most different is me.”

According to ‘People’, the students of the school orchestrated flash mobs and launched a social media campaign, #BaconToPayson, in an effort to persuade Bacon to visit in honour of the movie’s milestone anniversary.

Last month, during a segment on the ‘Today’ show, Bacon expressed his admiration for their campaign and confirmed, “I’m going to come, I gotta come.”

Addressing the Payson community over the weekend, Bacon said: “When I first heard about this #BaconToPayson thing, I thought, ‘Wow, this is crazy’. But you were all tireless, unrelenting in your desire to have me return, and you talked me into it. I think it’s great to see that kind of commitment to anything.”

He continued, “I also think it’s amazing the power this movie has had to bring people together and connect on the basic ideas that are behind the movie of standing up to authority sometimes, and to being forgiving of 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.”

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