Kevin Bacon returns to “Footloose” high school after student campaign: 'You talked me into it'

As a thank-you to the actor for his homecoming, the high schoolers have pledged to create 5,000 resource kits for his foundation, SixDegrees.Org, before their prom.

It’s officially time for Kevin Bacon and the students of Payson High School to cut footloose! 

The actor made his grand return to the Utah school, which is one of the original filming locations from his 1984 movie Footloose, on Saturday following a months-long student-led social media campaign to get him to attend their final prom before Payson moves to another location.

“Go Lions! Here we are on this beautiful, beautiful spot on this beautiful, beautiful day,” Bacon told the student body, reports local news outlet ABC4. “It’s been a long time – 40 years – that just blows my mind, you know. Things look a little different around here. I’d say the thing that looks the most different is me.”

The actor explained that he was initially surprised by the #BaconToPayson campaign — in which students recorded themselves recreating scenes from the film and performing its choreography — but that their perseverance and commitment won him over in the end.

“You were all just tireless. Unrelenting… You talked me into it,” 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 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.”

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Footloose, Bacon’s foundation, SixDegrees.Org, has announced that it hopes to “create and distribute 40,000 essential resource kits to communities across the U.S.,” per its website. As part of their campaign, Payson students have pledged to create 5,000 of those resource kits, which they will make before prom this weekend as a way to thank the actor.

In his speech, Bacon praised the high schoolers for “turning what could be just a movie star coming back to get a pat on the back into something really positive.”

He continued, “That’s what we’re going to do today when we build these kits. Thank you so much for your commitment to giving back to your community and to the people you’re sharing this planet with, and I’m thrilled we’re going to be working here together today.”

Bacon shocked Payson High School students last month when he announced over a video call that he would attend their 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 recreations, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by me,” he said. “Not to mention the fact that you’ve 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," he continued, "and I’m gonna come. I’ve gotta come!”

Now, all that's left to do is dance!

Want more movie news? Sign up for 's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.Entertainment Weekly

Related content:

• Kick off your picket shoes! Kevin Bacon cuts loose, channels Footloose to celebrate end of actors' strike

• Kevin Bacon says he 'rejected' his Footloose fame because he wanted to be a more 'serious' actor

• Kevin Bacon says Footloose almost had a very different ending: 'This doesn't work at all'

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.