Kevin Bacon refuses to do the ‘Footloose’ dance like a “trained monkey”.
Kevin Bacon won’t perform the Footloose dance ‘on command’
The 65-year-old actor’s breakthrough role came as Ben McCormack in the 1984 musical, and four decades later he admitted while people “probably would” still ask him to do the film’s signature routine at weddings, he wouldn’t know where to start.
He told the Metro newspaper’s 60 Seconds column: “When people say, ‘Do the Footloose dance’, I don’t know what the Footloose dance is. I am not a trained monkey.”
The Hollywood star recalled being asked to perform the memorable dance during an event honouring ‘Footloose’ writer Dean Pitchford.
Kevin said: “I was on a red carpet recently because we inducted Dean Pitchford – who wrote the Footloose screenplay and co-wrote all the songs in the movie – into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
“And we played the song, my brother and I, for him. And that was really, really fun.
“But on the red carpet, a couple of people said, ‘Will you do the Footloose dance?’ And I’m like, ‘No!’ I’ll do that when I choose to do it, but not on command.”
However, Kevin admitted he doesn’t mind people bringing up the ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’ viral game, which is based on the idea that his prolific and wide ranging big screen career means he can be linked to any Hollywood actor in just a few steps.
He added: “I don’t mind ‘Six Degrees’ anymore because of sixdegrees.org.
“We made it into a charitable foundation, and there’s a lot of good work that’s come out of that. So I’ve embraced Six Degrees and it’s not annoying.”
While Kevin used to be “horrified” by the meme and believed it was simply a “joke at his expense”, he has grown to love it.
Previously appearing on the ‘On With Mario Lopez’ podcast, he said: “I always think to myself, it’s only because I’ve been in a whole lot of movies that a whole lot of people have bene in, a lot of very big casts!
“I was horrified! Because I thought it was really a joke at my expense. I just thought, ‘Oh come on, they’re just making fun of me, let’s face it!’ “
