Kevin Bacon delighted fans by taking part in a viral 'Footloose' TikTok challenge with his wife, saying it was 'just as hard as it looks'
- Kevin Bacon has gone viral on TikTok for attempting a "Footloose"-themed dance trend.
- The actor performed a lift with his celebrity wife, Kyra Sedgwick, gaining 13 million TikTok views.
Kevin Bacon and his wife have gone viral on TikTok for taking part in a popular dance trend inspired by "Footloose," the 1984 dance movie Bacon starred in.
In a video posted to Bacon's TikTok account on June 30, the celebrity duo could be seen walking into the shot as "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, the title track of the movie, played in the background.
Bacon could then be seen lifting Sedgwick in mid-air by holding onto one of her arms and one of her legs, before performing a drop-style dance move with her, swiftly rolling her body to the ground as the song's chorus began to play.
The video now has 13.8 million views and is the most-viewed TikTok on Bacon's account, where the actor typically shares tours of the Connecticut farm where he lives with his 2.3 million followers.
In the comments section under the video, Bacon wrote, "this was just as hard as it looks ."
In response to a comment that read, "It's all fun and games until your in the emergency department trying to explain this," Bacon replied, "We had the same thought right around our second attempt."
Bacon shared a photo of Sedgwick on Instagram on July 1, where she could be seen resting what appeared to be an icepack on her wrist. "The aftermath of nailing a TikTok dance #Footloose," Bacon captioned the image, which has 41,000 likes.
Fans congratulated Bacon and Sedgwick for completing the challenge under his Instagram post, saying, "But you did it!" and, "It looked great while you were performing it!"
Bacon's video is part of a broader dance trend called the "Footloose challenge," which has been going viral on the platform in recent weeks. While it is unclear where the trend originated, prominent influencers with millions of followers have taken part in the trend, which involves two people performing a drop-lift to the song "Footloose," since early June.
Audio of the song has been used in over 300,000 videos on the app, and the hashtag #Footloose has more than 647,000 TikTok views.
Not all TikToks using this sound or hashtag feature the dance, as the movie has also inspired several other TikTok trends in recent years. For example, creators have also gone viral on the app for performing their own versions of the original footwork choreography from the film, which does not involve the drop-lift, on the app.
Viewers frequently comment on the suspense in the challenge, saying they thought one dancer was going to drop the other as they performed the lift.
Commenters under Bacon's video, however, said they loved the actor's video because it showed a glimpse into his relationship with Sedgwick, who is most famous for her role as Brenda Johnson in the TNT crime series "The Closer," which ran from 2005 to 2012.
"A Hollywood marriage that actually works! Congrats on having such a great partner!!" one top comment with more than 12,000 likes said.
"Y'all are absolutely adorable," and "you guys are still the cutest," wrote other top commenters.
Some commenters said they enjoyed the couple's tribute to the film, which felt like a nostalgic throwback. One comment with 31,000 likes said, "Just like that, I'm back in high school in 1984."
Bacon rose to fame in horror-style films such as "Friday the 13th," in the 80s and 90s, and landed the starring role in "Footloose" in 1984, which became an instant hit, grossing $80 million at the US box office, according to IMDb. As of 2012, he has starred in advertising campaigns for various brands, such as for British mobile network EE.
Bacon married Sedgwick in 1998 after the pair met on set for a PBS remake of the 1970 play, "Lemon Sky."
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.