Kevin Bacon Paid a Visit to a Special ‘Footloose’ Set for its 40th Anniversary

Lauren Novak April 22, 10:00 am

Footloose Kevin Bacon, 1984 — Everett Collection

Kevin Bacon returned to the place where it all began. Footloose is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and Bacon commemorated the special milestone by visiting the place where Footloose was filmed. The movie was filmed at Payson High School in Payson, Utah. Bacon visited the school and its students on their prom day.

He shared on the special day, “Go Lions! Here we are on this beautiful, beautiful spot on this beautiful, beautiful day. 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 went on to thank the students for tying in his foundation in their request to have him visit and for working on projects to give back to the community and the planet.

The students previously came together to try to get Bacon to visit this year since the school will be relocating at the end of the school year. Bacon called into the students who gathered in the gym and shared the news that he would be coming to visit on prom day, which elicited tons of cheers. He also shared his appreciation for their enthusiasm and how much work they put into asking him to come.

@todayshow #Footloose was filmed at Payson High School in Utah, and for months, the students there have tried to get the actor to attend this year’s prom, which will be the last at the building as the school will be relocating at the end of the academic year. Students put on an all-out blitz to get Bacon to come to their prom, using the hashtag #BaconToPayson, re-creating scenes from the movie, learning the “Footloose” dance and hosting an event on prom day to benefit Bacon’s charity, sixdegrees.org . #TODAYShow ♬ original sound – TODAY Show

Bacon shared, “I’ve been amazed at the work that all of you have been putting into this, with the musical and the flash mobs and the re-creations. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by me, not to mention the fact that you tied in SixDegrees.org, our foundation, and are trying to figure out ways to give back to your community. It’s really inspirational, so thank you. Thank you. And I’m gonna come. I gotta come.”

Paramount/Everett Collection

Bacon’s organization SixDegrees pokes fun at the notion that every star is connected to Bacon by six degrees or less. The organization helps local communities and focuses on youth empowerment and sustainable living. He started it in 2007.

Paramount/Everett Collection

Bacon is best known for his role in Footloose and has since embraced its long legacy. After the strikes were over in 2023, he re-created the famous dance scene from the movie. Back in 2022, he opened up about the film and shared, “I think that it was a great gift to be part of that movie. I certainly took it very seriously when I was doing it and I love that people will still come up and say that they just showed it to their kids.”