Somehow, Kevin Bacon was not the studio’s first choice to land his iconic role in “Footloose.” Bacon revealed this weekend, during a 40th anniversary celebration of the cult classic at the Tribeca Film Festival, that the studio head at Paramount Pictures initially did not want him for the role because they thought he was not “f**kable.” Bacon walked the red carpet inside of the BMCC theater at 199 Chambers St.
four decades after he first showed off his dancing moves in the 1984 classic. Also starring Lori Singer, Chris Penn, and Sarah Jessica Parker, Footloose propelled Bacon into the limelight and took his fledgling career to new heights. In a conversation with moderator and Deputy Editor of GQ Michael Hainey immediately following the screening, Bacon admitted that he originally resented being so closely tied to the role, but has since come to adore it for the joy it brings others.
“It was so important to me to be considered a serious actor as opposed to a pop star, which is ironic since when I started out all I wanted to be was a pop star. When I packed my suitcase from Philly and came up to New York I wanted to be the Monkeys. Then I got into the New York theater world and my whole focus changed, then I wanted to be Meryl Streep,” Bacon said.
“In retrospect, I could have embraced the movie a little bit more than I did.” However, Bacon also revealed that he did not have an easy ride when signing up for the film and even faced some pushback. Then-studio hea.
