June 04, 2017
Variety/YouTube
Kevin Bacon sits down for interview on Variety's "Actors on Actors" series.
It's been 33 years since "Footloose" put Kevin Bacon on the map as an actor with serious Hollywood star potential. In recent weeks, as the Philadelphia native continues to earn accolades for his role in the Amazon series "I Love Dick," Bacon has been reminiscing about the making of his breakout film.
For instance, Bacon revealed last month that the studio head for "Footloose" almost turned him down because he wasn't, in her words, "f---able" enough for a role that required cutting up a rug. His competition was Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe, to put his chances in perspective.
But when the director and producer ultimately prevailed and Bacon was cast as Ren McCormack, one of his first challenges was convincing himself that he could pull off playing a teenager at the age of 23.
Bacon sat down for an interview with "Footloose" co-star John Lithgow as part of Variety's "Actors on Actors" series. The full conversation, set to premiere June 13 on PBS SoCal, includes a revealing bit about Bacon's undercover mission to blend in with small town high school students.
To hear Bacon tell it, the experience was one-day experience was a crash course reminder of the torments of high school.
