Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer’s 1984 smash hit Footloose is still etched into the minds of people. The incredible soundtrack of the film including Kenny Loggins’ title track and Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero created a sensation in those days. Bacon became a big movie star and it was also a breakthrough film for Singer who played Ariel Moore.
The film had a scene where Ariel dodges an incoming train as Bacon’s Ren pushes her out of the way. Singer was supposed to dodge the train a little earlier. However, Singer wanted the scene to feel more authentic and dangerous and thus proposed a different approach which the stunt people didn’t like.
Lori Singer Did Her Own Stunt in Footloose‘s Most Dangerous Scene
Kevin Bacon’s Footloose is celebrated as one of the era-defining musicals of the 80s. The film catapulted Bacon and Lori Singer’s careers and has prevailed the test of time. People still continue to discover the film and witness the foot-tapping dance numbers elevated by the incredible musical tracks in the film.
The film also had an iconic scene where Singer’s Ariel Moore is saved by Bacon’s Ren McCormack from being killed by an oncoming train. Singer was very open to doing the dangerous stunt herself where they used a real train to execute the scene. However, the stuntman in the film was not happy with what she proposed.
Singer told The Daily Beast that she did all of the stunts in the film including the dangerous train sequence. She even told the director and the stuntman about her approach to the scene which they found wild. She even stayed longer in the train’s way longer than planned to make the scene more intense and impactful. She said,
“I did every stunt myself, like when we were doing the scene with the train. I was very wild. It was a real train; a huge locomotive. I’d choreographed what I was going to do and showed [the director and stuntman]. Then afterwards, [the stuntman] grabbed me by the arm and pinched me. He said, ‘Don’t say one more word.’ Evidently, I thought I could stay there longer, and the stuntman had to fly across the rails and knock me out of the way [of the train], the way Kevin actually does in the movie”
The scene was one of the main highlights of the film and further established the relationship between the two characters. Singer seems to have really committed to the scene and it paid off well in the film. Along with the dance numbers, audiences were in love with the pair’s arc in the film.
Kevin Bacon Is Grateful that Footloose is Relevant Even Today
Kevin Bacon‘s Footloose still comes up during conversations about the most entertaining musicals ever made. The film was a big hit in the 80s and continues to find audiences to this day. Bacon is especially surprised that the film is still relevant today and continues to be celebrated even after more than 40 years.
In an interview with Today, Bacon expressed his gratitude for the continued success of the film and he has embraced the legacy that the film has created. He loves it when people come up to him telling him that they have introduced the film to their kids. He said,
“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. I think that 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.”
Bacon even celebrated the end of the strikes by doing some of his impressive moves from the film. The unprecedented success of the film is like a gift that keeps on giving and all the actors involved are grateful to audiences for making that happen, Fans can watch the film on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
