Kevin Bacon returns to ‘Footloose’ high school for film’s 40th anniversary after student campaign

PAYSON, Utah — Actor Kevin Bacon returned Saturday to the Utah high school where the cult classic film “Footloose” was filmed for more than 40 years.

Bacon danced up to a stage on a Payson High School athletic field Saturday to greet students before what was likely the last prom held at the school, which is scheduled to be demolished next spring.

“You convinced me,” Bacon said, according to the video posted by Salt Lake City’s ABC 4. “It’s great to see that kind of commitment to anything. I also think it’s amazing to see the power this film has had to bring people together.

Bacon starred in “Footloose” as a Chicago teenager who moved to a small town and fought the ban on dancing. Payson High School students finished Saturday with a “Footloose”-themed prom, right after the movie ended.

About 21,000 people live in Payson, located about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Principal Jesse Sorenson said students have been trying for years to persuade Bacon to visit.

What started as light-hearted appeals on social media grew into a community-wide campaign to partner with Bacon’s charity, Sorenson said. The students agreed to help collect 5,000 care packages for the charity SixDegrees, in order to convince Bacon to visit them.

For weeks, the students wrote messages of hope for the future owners of each of the care packages and worked with the Utah Film Commission and SixDegrees to raise funds and donations of toiletries, clothing and other items to put in backpacks, Sorenson said.

On Saturday, Bacon helped fill the bags alongside what Sorenson estimated to be about 700 students and 300 community members.

Sorenson, a 1995 Payson High School graduate, said DJs always played the song “Footloose” at proms and students recreated the iconic dance from the film. Older residents tell stories of being extras in the film and are happy to point out places in Payson shown in the film, he said.

“It’s something they can be proud of and it’s fun for them,” the principal said.