Kevin Bacon surprises students of school where ‘Footloose' was filmed by announcing he's attending its prom

Payson High School students are going to get a lot closer than six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

“Footloose,” which celebrates the 40th anniversary of its release this year, was filmed at the school in Payson, Utah. 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. Well, they will finally get their wish after Bacon confirmed he would come while on TODAY March 22.

The actor called in from Atlanta while a throng of students filled the school gym. He shared his appreciation for all they have done and to let them know he will indeed be heading to their prom, with the announcement prompting an eruption of cheers.

“I have been so impressed with everything that’s been going on there with this crazy idea to get me to come back,” he began while noting how big the movie and the school has been to his own life.

Bacon also showed appreciation for the students supporting his SixDegrees.org charity and how much effort they've put into trying to get him to the prom.

“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," he said.

“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,” he continued, as the gym exploded in joy.

Students have indeed put on an all-out blitz to get Bacon to come to their prom, using the hashtag #bacontopayson on social media, re-creating scenes from the movie, learning the “Footloose” dance and hosting an event on prom day to benefit SixDegrees.org.

"Let's dance! We're gonna do it! This is awesome!" student Rubie Raff told him after he made the announcement.

"We're gonna party really hard, Kevin," Kaleb Dymock added. 

"Thank you guys. Let's dance," Bacon said.

Bacon, who celebrated the end of last year's actors strike by re-creating a famous dance scene from "Footloose," has embraced the enduring popularity of the film.

“I think that it was a great gift to be part of that movie,” he told TODAY’s Willie Geist in 2022. “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.”

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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