Utah’s Payson High School once again played host to Kevin Bacon, who returned to the site of the iconic Footloose just in time for prom night. On Saturday, April 20, hours before the once-forbidden dancing kicked off, the actor ascended the stage of the football field to address the students who had been so tirelessly vying for his presence.
While the students have a night full of remarkable memories, Bacon also received some mementos from the occasion, everything from a diploma to a huge helping hand for his charity, Six Degrees, which is dedicated to donating or raising money to any charity in the U.S., along with doing drop-ins and shoutouts to shine a spotlight on various organizations.
40 years later, Kevin Bacon visits the school were ‘Footloose’ took place on prom night
“It’s been a long time – 40 years – that just blows my mind, you know,” said 65-year-old Bacon on the school’s football field. “Things look a little different around here. I’d say the thing that looks the most different is me.”
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He continued, “When I first heard about this Bacon to Payson thing, I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ But you were all just 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. 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 there are behind the movie – you know, standing up to authority sometimes, and to being forgiving to 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.”
Bacon and the school community did helpful work for others
Just as Footloose had a unifying message throughout its entirety, the student body was united in campaigning to bring Kevin Bacon back to the venue—and in a timely fashion, as this will be their final prom at this address. After, the school is relocating.
But just hours before prom, the students also paid Bacon the ultimate tribute and set themselves up to work for his Six Degrees charity. The plan was to put together kits full of essential items for those in need. The contents include socks, reusable water bottles, hygiene products, and even offers for three months of free counseling.
Bacon told the students that they embodied the best of what Footloose aimed to promote: compassion. He said, “And that’s what all of you have shown here, by turning what could be just a movie star coming back to get a pat on the back, into something really positive. And that’s what we’re going to do today when we build these kits. So thank you, thank you so much. And thank you so much especially for your commitment to giving back to your community and to the people you’re sharing this planet with, and I’m thrilled that we’re going to be working here together today.”
The event saw the students compile 5,000 kits. This allowed Six Degrees to manage $865,000 worth of product distribution.
In addition to this heartfelt gesture, Bacon also came away from his return to the Footloose high school with an honorary diploma of his very own, in recognition of his “timeless performance and forever inspiration left at Payson High School.”