Almost 40 years after Footloose first hit cinemas, Kevin Bacon appears to have just set the record straight about the film’s biggest mystery.
The actor appeared in the 1984 musical alongside Sarah Jessica Parker, who played his character Ren’s pal Rusty.
The film ends with Ren and Rusty arriving at their school prom, where a huge group dance ensues – although viewers have long pointed out that after her initial appearance, SJP is nowhere to be seen during the final number.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Mystic River star appeared to shed some light on the situation.
Apparently, the film’s original ending featured only a “moment of dancing” after Ren’s “let’s dance!” declaration, after which things “went into slow motion”.
“There’s glitter falling from the sky, and everyone is just moving in slow motion,” he explained. “This was the original ending.
“[But] the studio tested the movie, and they were like, ‘This doesn’t work at all – everyone wants to get up and dance at the end of this movie’.
“We still kept the ‘Let’s dance!’ and me running down the stairs. But from that point on, it was choreographed and L.A. dancers were hired.
“Chris Penn was out there — and me and Lori [Singer]. We had to gather the cast together and try to get the hair to match. That was a completely re-shot ending.”
Footloose was one of the highest-grossing films of 1984, and became synonymous with its soundtrack, including Kenny Loggins’ hugely popular title song and Deniece Williams’ Let’s Hear It For The Boy, both of which received Oscar nods.
The soundtrack also included the Bonnie Tyler classic Holding Out For A Hero, which was written especially for the film.