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Hiring Dancer instead of Actor to play the lead. Good or bad move?


What you all think. Kevin Bacon had very little dancing skill but is an excellent actor. Kenny Wormald is an awesome dancer but has little acting skill. Is it more important to have Ren be a great dancer or a great actor?

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Well Kenny did a great job, so I think casting him was a VERY good move.

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I haven't seen the movie yet but I did see the Trailers. Kenny is an excellent dancer but compare his speech to the town council to Kevin Bacons and there is no comparison. When emotion and feeling are needed Kenny does not deliver. I will watch and enjoy but I will be very surprised if I leave the theater thinking the remake was better.

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[deleted]

I think we need a bit of both.

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I agree with needing a bit of both. The acting is definitely the more important thing if the goal is to tell a good story. The dancing is more important if the goal is to make a "Dance" movie. IMO Footloose is a story movie that happens to have dancing so the acting is more important. Still looking forward to seeing the remake with better dancing. Kevin Bacon was quite weak as a dancer.

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psonally i think it's better to have an actor, besides Kevin Bacon was actually a fairly good dancer. Besides He didn't have to look like a pro dancer because the movie was about an ordinary town with ordinary kids with ordinary dance skills. But they had a lot of fun when they danced.
If that makes any sense

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Sometimes it all works out and Kenny Wormald's debut blew me away. Brewer made a good choice

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I haven't seen the movie yet but I have seen the Trailer. Kenny is an awesome dancer and honestly has almost no acting skill whatsoever.

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You can't tell that he has no acting skills whatsoever since you haven't seen the movie.

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I have seen the Trailer and it was good enough to show me that he has no acting skill. It was enough. He really can dance though.

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An edited trailer is in no way good enough to show how good an actor's performance is!

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you are right it can't show how good a performance is but it can't hide a bad one. Have you seen the original? Compare the passionless speech before the town council by Kenny to the incredible original. I was hoping it would be good but it was so flat. I am going to watch the new movie and hope that was just one isolated example but I think of other scenes from the trailer and Kenny just has no edge or spark like Kevin did.

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I haven't seen the original film and don't need to to gauge how good his performance is in the FILM because nobody can gauge what it is from a trailer.

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it wasn't his debut. he has acted in another dancing movie

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I am a fan of Kevin Bacon and honestly did not think anyone could replace him, especially in Footloose, but I was proven wrong. I do not think that Kevin can be replaced but Kenny was great. I just saw the movie with little to no expectations and came out with relief and happiness. They follwed the plot VERY well. Only a couple parts made me frown, but they have to twink some stuff to make it more modern I guess. If people are not sure whether to see it or not, I say go for it. Or wait until you can rent it or borrow it from a friend.

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I just came back from seeing the new Footloose and was shocked at just how much I enjoyed it. I love, love the original and I'll admit I had a little crush on Kevin Bacon when I was little and I after seeing Kenny on DanceLife I never expected to see him as an actor but he was grrrreat! lol I really liked him as Ren. Not as fantastic as Kevin but Kenny was good.

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It's better than having Zac Efron, who was the original choice for the movie.

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It's very rare when you get a gem like Patrick Swayze who IMO could act AND dance- which is why I think the remake of Dirty Dancing will suck, blow and wipe. I think they hired a fantastic dancer (the guy who played Ren, the girl who played Ariel just didn't impress me with her moves, even though I know she is a dancer). I think in a movie like Rent, where there is pretty much no dialogue and all song/dance, a better dancer is your best bet, but in a movie like this, you need a better actor- i liked this movie as a remake but the town council scene is a fab example of how Bacon, as Ren, was great, this Kenny guy- just fell flat. Maybe it was his nerve grating voice? lol

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