Kevin Bacon returned to the high school where he played in 1984. was filmed, 40 years after the film’s release.
The actor gave a speech to students at the Payson, Utah, school on Saturday, following a social media campaign by students hoping to travel to Bacon to attend the prom before the school moves.
local media ABC4 reported that Bacon first told the crowd, “Go Lions!” Here we are in this very beautiful place on this beautiful and beautiful day. It’s been a long time – 40 years – it blows my mind, you know. Things look a little different here. I would say the thing that seems the most different is me.
For months, students used social media to try to win Leave the world behind the actor’s attention, adding the hashtag #bacontopayson in publications and recreating film scenes. But their planned prom day event to benefit Bacon’s SixDegrees.org Foundation really caught his attention.
“When I first heard about this story from Bacon to Payson, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.’ But you were all tireless. Relentless… You convinced me,” Bacon reportedly said in his speech. “I think it’s great to see that kind of commitment to anything. I also think it’s amazing the power this film had to bring people together and connect to the basic ideas behind the film – you know, standing up to authority sometimes and forgiving 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 others.
Last month, the actor surprised students by announcing on the Today showing that he would be attending this year’s prom at school. At the time, he shared his appreciation for all the students did and how it “did not go unnoticed.”
As part of their campaign, and to show their appreciation for Bacon’s return, the students offered to help support the SixDegrees.org Foundation by pledging to create 5,000 “essential resource kits” for young people and schools, out of the nonprofit’s goal of 40,000.
“And that’s what you all showed here, 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,” Bacon added in his speech. “Thank you so much for your commitment to giving back to your community and the people with whom you share this planet, and I’m thrilled that we will be working here together today.”
