CNN
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Kevin Bacon has made good on his promise to return to his high school in Utah, where the iconic 1984 movie “Footloose” was filmed.
Mr. Bacon appeared at Payson High School on Saturday, months after students at the school launched the #BacontoPayson social media campaign. As part of the effort, students recreated scenes from the movie and choreographed videos in hopes of attracting the attention of actors and getting them to perform at their school's final prom.
Payson High School is scheduled to relocate at the end of the school year.
“When I first heard about this Bacon and Payson thing, I thought, 'Wow, this is crazy.' But you guys were just tireless,” Bacon said Saturday at the school's football field. ABC7 reported. “You told me about it.”
Bacon said he appreciates the students' efforts.
CBS/Getty Images
Kevin Bacon in “Footloose”.
As part of Payson High School's effort to bring Bacon back to campus, they will donate 5,000 essential items to support his Sixdegrees.org Foundation, which benefits underserved and under-resourced communities. I have committed to creating a resource kit. The organization has a goal of packaging and distributing up to 40,000 kits as part of its 'Footloose40' initiative.
In his speech Saturday, Bacon thanked the students for “turning what could have just been a movie star coming back to give us a pat on the back into something really positive.”
Bacon was awarded an honorary diploma from Payson High School, took photos with students and even rocked a locker during his visit, according to a video posted to Bacon's Instagram Story on Saturday.
“Footloose” was released in 1984, and Bacon plays a teenager who moves to a small town that bans dancing and works to overturn that policy. The movie culminates at prom, which seems to still be a relaxing place 40 years later.
