\u201cFootloose\u201d could have been a very different movie if Kevin Bacon hadn\u2019t landed the lead.<\/p>\n
Christopher Atkins, star of the 80s hit \u201cThe Blue Lagoon,\u201d could have been the one who brought dancing to that repressed small town.<\/p>\n
During a panel at the Fanboy Expo Knoxville in Tennessee, Atkins revealed the \u201cFootloose\u201d filmmakers wanted to meet with him, but he couldn\u2019t get it together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a mess back then. I was partying it up way too much, and they called me in,\u201d he said, per People<\/a>. \u201cI said \u2018I can\u2019t go in right now. I\u2019ve been drinking and carrying on.\u2019 And they said, \u2018No, they need to see you.\u2019 And I went in and I just blew that audition I mean, it wasn\u2019t even an audition \u2014 I had the part, but I was so messed up that they said, \u2018Yeah, we\u2019re going to have to pass on this guy.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that things had turned around, telling the audience, \u201cAnd I\u2019m almost 40 years sober, so there you go.\u201d<\/p>\n Atkins shot to stardom in \u201cThe Blue Lagoon,\u201d also starring Brooke Shields, but revealed he hadn\u2019t had any major acting ambitions growing up.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d never done anything before. Never wanted to be an actor \u2014 only wanted to play baseball. That was my dream,\u201d he said during the panel.<\/p>\n He continued, \u201cI ended up modeling for Ford modeling agency in New York City and auditioned for \u2018The Blue Lagoon\u2019 And I kept getting called back and called back and called back. And then [after] a couple months, I didn\u2019t hear from them And then all of a sudden I got another call back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Atkins noted the filmmakers asked him to bring a \u201cblond curly wig\u201d for the final audition, which ended up being his character\u2019s look in the movie.<\/p>\n The 65-year-old said he was so inexperienced when it came to making movies he \u201cdidn\u2019t know what a camera looked like. I had no idea what a mark was, and I knew nothing. And I had to jump on an airplane and fly all the way to Fiji.\u201d<\/p>\n Atkins said his \u201cwhole life changed\u201d after \u201cThe Blue Lagoon,\u201d which he struggled adjusting to.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were young, and so you\u2019re constantly getting this notoriety,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the magazines need you to sell their magazines, and you\u2019re hot at that time. And so it does get overwhelming There are times where you\u2019re doing interviews and you have a line of people and you have to say the same thing to each person because they have the same question. But it changes your life, because all of a sudden you\u2019re nothing and then you\u2019re on every single grocery store magazine.\u201d<\/p>\n Follow us on Instagram @WeArePauseRewind<\/a> for all your pop culture obsessions.<\/p>\n