Kevin Bacon re-creates ‘Footloose’ dance number to celebrate end of actors’ strike
Kevin Bacon has an extra spring in his step after SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood studios Wednesday to end the 118-day actors’ strike.
The “Footloose” star took to social media to celebrate, sharing a video of himself alone in an empty barn, re-creating an iconic dance from the 1984 Oscar-nominated film in which he starred. He captioned the post with a short and sweet, “Strike over! @sagaftra.”
In the new video, Bacon is all joy, kicking up his cowboy boots to the film’s title song by Kenny Loggins.
“This is the BEST way to find out the strike is over,” one TikTok user commented.
Hollywood’s twin strikes translated into a lost year of production for much of the industry with productions idle since last spring. SAG-AFTRA’s strike against major media companies stretched 118 days.
By Friday afternoon, the video had more than 8 million views on TikTok and 3.7 million views on X (formerly Twitter).
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists first went on strike back in July, citing concerns about a flawed streaming residuals system, unfair wages and the encroachment of artificial intelligence into the entertainment industry. The Writers Guild of America began its strike for similar reasons back in May.
Actors joined writers on picket lines Friday as SAG-AFTRA launched its own strike against studios and streamers, after the two sides failed to reach a deal for a new contract.
In July, Bacon joined the picket line outside Paramount in Times Square, saying that although he personally had the power to negotiate his contracts, he was protesting for “the working class, middle class part of our union.”
The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee says the contract, approved unanimously Wednesday by the committee and ratified Friday by SAG-AFTRA’s national board of directors, addresses the guild’s concerns, boosting actors’ minimum pay and residual payments and establishing new rules regulating the use of AI.
“We have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers,” the television and theatrical negotiation committee said late Wednesday in a message to members. “Many thousands of performers now and into the future will benefit from this work.”
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