Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe almost landed Kevin Bacon’s ‘Footloose’ role: 'That's a real actor'

Kevin Bacon's entry into Hollywood almost looked a lot different.

During a recent interview with Rob Lowe on his podcast, "Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon," the two actors began talking about why Lowe chose to write a memoir, and the kinds of stories he told in his books. 

One of the stories, which Lowe also recalled on the podcast, was his audition for "Footloose." He called it "a dance audition," explaining that at "the end of the dance was a knee slide across the floor," which he really went for.

"I hit my knees and slide across the floor into a lineup of like Sherry Lansing, Dean Pitchford, Craig Zadan and Herbert Ross, and my knee explodes. Explodes! Pop! And they take me out of the soundstage on a stretcher," he recalled. 

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"And this tells you everything you need to know about Hollywood," he continued. "The producers, who were friends of mine and were very pro me doing this movie, come up to me and go ‘Hey man it’s cool. At the end of the day, we really decided we're just going to hire a dancer for the part.' And a week later, they hired you, and I'm like ‘God damn these guys! That’s a real actor.'"

Luckily, Lowe did not have trouble finding success in Hollywood after healing from his torn ACL. He was a member of the infamous Brat Pack, starring in the movies, "The Outsiders," "Class," "Oxford Blues," "St. Elmo's Fire" and "About Last Night…" He has gone on to star in "The West Wing," "Brothers & Sisters," "Parks and Recreation" and most recently, "9-1-1: Lone Star." 

After hearing Lowe's audition story, Bacon laughed and agreed "that was a very Hollywood story."

While he had stiff competition for the role in Lowe, he wasn't the only person Bacon had to edge out of the way to win the part. 

Tom Cruise had just broken into Hollywood in a massive way, with starring roles in "The Outsiders" and "Risky Business," when the producers of "Footloose" set their sights on him to play the character of Ren.

He was forced to pass on the movie due to scheduling conflicts, as he had already committed to playing Stef in "All the Right Moves." 

Missing out on the dance film did nothing to slow down Cruise's career, as he went on to receive four Academy Award nominations for his roles in "Born on the Fourth of July," "Jerry Maguire" and "Magnolia" – the fourth was for producing – and starred in two big franchises in "Mission Impossible" and "Top Gun."

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Christopher Atkins was also on the list of actors being considered to play rule-breaking dancer Ren McCormack in the movie. 

"I had 'Footloose,'" "The Blue Lagoon" star said in a January 2009 episode of VH1 reality television series, "Confessions of a Former Teen Idol." "And I went to meet with the producers and director of the movie, but I was on my way to Palm Springs to go have some fun, but I already started having fun before. 

"So, I went in, out of my mind, and they saw this crazy guy, and they thought, 'We can't do this movie with this guy...' I (messed) up," he continued. "I was a total idiot.... It could have been a whole different ballgame for me."

In a December 2022 conversation with his "Blue Lagoon" co-star Brooke Shields on her podcast, "Now What," Atkins spoke about life after starring in "The Blue Lagoon," telling Shields he was overwhelmed by the overnight fame the movie brought him, calling it "absolutely insane."

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Most recently, Atkins appeared in "Lake of Fire," "Attraction to Paris," "Out for Vengeance" and "Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas."

For Bacon's part, the role of Ren McCormack ended up being his breakthrough in Hollywood, allowing him to quit his job waiting tables and become a full-time actor. He would go on to star in "Apollo 13," "Tremors," "Patriots Day," "Frost/Nixon," "A Few Good Men" and many other hit movies.

His breakthrough in the industry led Bacon to star in the 1988 film "Lemon Sky," where he met his wife of 35 years, actress Kyra Sedgwick. The two have gone on to star in multiple movies together and have two children, Travis and Sosie.