Kevin Bacon to attend prom at high school where 'Footloose' was filmed for 40th anniversary

Kevin Bacon is returning to the old stomping grounds to mark the 40th anniversary of "Footloose."

Students at Payson High School in Utah, where the cult classic movie was filmed, made a large social media push to have Bacon attend this year's prom before the school relocates to another building. On Friday, the actor, who played Ren McCormack in the musical drama, confirmed he would be in attendance.

On Friday's episode of "Today," the 65-year-old actor appeared virtually before the students who gathered in the school's gym. "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, adding how much the school played in his life journey. "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."

Students at Payson launched a social media campaign with #bacontopayson to get Bacon to attend their final prom in the building. They also tied in his SixDegrees.org charity by holding benefits to donate to the organization.

"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 announced as the students came to a roar.

He added: "Let's dance."

Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick went viral in 2022 for taking on the challenge of a TikTok dance trend set to Kenny Loggins' title track of the 1984 film.

Showing the kids how it's done, Bacon held Sedgwick horizontally by one arm and one leg before doing a perpendicular spin to lower her down. The "Footloose Drop" trend, which isn't a recreation from the 1984 film, times the downward spiral to the beat drop right before the chorus.

The couple high-fived one another after nailing the move.

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Bacon, captioned the TikTok clip, "I don't remember this being part of the original #Footloose choreography, but figured we'd give it a spin."

The following month, Bacon discussed the continued popularity of "Footloose" in an interview with "Sunday Sitdown" host Willie Geist.

"I think that it was a great gift to be part of that movie," he said. "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 article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kevin Bacon to return to 'Footloose' high school filming spot for prom