Kevin Bacon says Footloose fever will never be cured

Kevin Bacon feels grateful that fans are still devoted to his hit 1984 film ‘Footloose’ almost 40 years after its release.

The actor was propelled to fame after landing the lead role of a dance-crazy teenager in the musical drama movie and he’s revealed he still feels proud of the film and enjoys hearing from devotees who have passed on their love of ‘Footloose’ to their kids.

Speaking on America’s ‘Today’ show, 64-year-old Kevin said of the film: “I love it. I think it’s great. It’s like all of those things that you think ‘Oh, my gosh, is it ever going to go away?’ At a certain point, you have to embrace the beast … It was a great gift to be part of that movie. 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.”

Kevin went on to explain he thinks the reason ‘Footloose’ has endured is because of the stage show version which premiered in 1998.

The musical has played on stages around the world including on Broadway and in London’s West End and smaller tours and school productions remain popular to this day.

He added: “After the Broadway show (ended) its run, it then becomes available to be done in every single high school. And there’s not that many plays, certainly musicals, where you can have a musical and a bunch of high school kids in it.”

‘Footloose’ the movie won two Oscar nominations for Best Song for Kenny Loggins’ title track and ‘Let’s Hear It for the Boy’ by Deniece Williams, while the Broadway stage show received four Tony Awards nominations.