Actor Kevin Bacon traveled to Payson High School this weekend, 40 years after starring in the classic film Footloose on the school’s Payson, Utah campus.
Bacon made the trip Saturday after students of the school campaigned on social media for months, in hopes of drawing the actor back to the campus that propelled him to massive fame for their “Everybody Cut Footloose” themed prom.
According to a press release from Bacon’s non-profit, SixDegrees.com, a campaign with the hashtag #BaconToPayson began last fall in an effort to see the star reunited with his fictional campus before the actual campus is demolished in renovations.
“Here we are at this beautiful, beautiful spot on this beautiful, beautiful day,” Bacon began in a speech to a cheering crowd.
“It’s been a long time, it’s been 40 years … that just blows my mind,” he continued, adding, “Things look a little different around here. I’d say the thing that looks the most different is me.”
“You were all just tireless, unrelenting in your desire to have me return,” he said. “I think it’s great to see that kind of commitment to anything. I also think that it’s amazing, the power that this movie has had to just kind of bring people together and connect on the basic ideas that are behind the movie.”
Bacon said some of those themes worth remembering are standing up to authority, and standing up for your right to express yourself.
Bacon’s SixDegrees.com, “supports impactful initiatives to sustain and enrich local communities,” according to the website.
In honor of Bacon’s visit, more than 1,000 volunteers “banded together to assemble and distribute 5,000 Essential Resource Kits to young people in need of resources throughout Utah, Colorado and Nevada,” according to organizers.
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