“Footloose” Is 40! Lori Singer Recalls 'Natural' Chemistry with Kevin Bacon: 'It Was Electric' (Exclusive)

'Footloose' actress Lori Singer opens up to PEOPLE about the movie's 40th anniversary

Four decades later, we're still cutting Footloose.

In honor of the Herb Ross–directed film's 40th anniversary, PEOPLE spoke with Lori Singer, who costarred alongside Kevin Bacon as Ariel Moore, the small-town girl he falls in love with as they fight to overturn a ban on dancing enacted by her reverend father (John Lithgow).

Despite her family's status and reputation, Ariel is a rebellious teen, and she is immediately intrigued by the arrival of Ren McCormack (Bacon), who moves with his mother Ethel (Frances Lee McCain) from Chicago and shows Ariel an entirely new side of life through dance.

Singer, now 66, recalls what it was like meeting Bacon, now 65, for the film for the first time: "It was electric."

"It's just one of those things when you have somebody like Herb Ross as a director and he's been with so many great actors ... he was already very established, so he knew what he was doing," she adds.

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Related: 'Footloose' 's Elizabeth Gorcey Claims an Actress 'Lost Their Virginity' While Making the 1984 Hit

Noting that she and Bacon had a "natural" chemistry that didn't necessarily require extra preparation, Singer says, "What you experience [in real life] doesn't always translate to film."

"But when you have someone like Ric Waite as a cinematographer and Herb Ross directing, then they can manage to actually capture what they wanted to capture, which was electric," she adds.

The actress references a specific scene near the beginning of the beloved film, which marks the first time Ariel and Ren become acquainted with one another — and their dynamic is palpable.

"Even the first time Kevin and I meet in the church and I look back at him, it may be like, 'Eh, so?' But you know," she explains of their immediate connection. "Then later ... when [Ariel's] father says [to Ren], 'I'd like you to meet her,' you just get it."

"I think meeting [Ren] also is part of what propels Ariel to climb between the car and the truck. She's excited and she doesn't even know why," Singer says of her character's iconic daredevil moment.

Singer is still in contact with a number of her Footloose cast mates and says they "run into each other quite a bit."

"Kevin and I are in contact if something happens. We contact each other from time to time," she says. "John lives in the building where my best friend lived, so just odd coincidences. I met his daughter recently, and she felt like my sister. We joke that we're sisters."

"Dianne [Wiest], I went to see her play. She was doing something with Alan Cumming, and I went and saw their play. She was brilliant as always," Singer continued.

While she hasn't seen Sarah Jessica Parker, who played Ariel's friend Rusty, for a while, she is predicting they will run into each other at the New York City Ballet at some point, as Singer was just there recently and Parker is a frequent attendee.

"Her style is amazing," Singer says of Parker, 58.

Related: Kevin Bacon Reacts to Idea of a Footloose Sequel 40 Years Later: 'I Think It Would Be a Disaster'

Looking back on how Footloose has stood the test of time, Singer calls it "an iconic American film" and "an interesting exploration of society," in part due to the fact that her "female rebel" character "tests every single societal norm, from religion to school, to physicality, to justice, to the arts."

"The music then propels it [to] the next level," she continues. "American music with Kenny Loggins, who ... I mean, it just infuses [the movie] with a spirit that encompasses the entire world. So I understand why it caught on. I still am very thrilled people like it as much as they do."

"I'm still just thrilled that Herb Ross and the team captured the spirit that we had on the set and the angst and the excitement and turmoil that we all go through as young teenagers with our parents, and that they captured it on film," Singer adds. "You don't always capture it on film. They captured it, and it's remarkable."

As for her character, the actress says fans have come up to her over the years and told her how much of a role model Ariel was for them in their teen years, to the point where some have even named their children after the character.

"I'm so honored by that," Singer tells PEOPLE. "I'm very proud to have given as much as I gave to it, and I feel proud of it."

Footloose is available to purchase or rent wherever you stream movies.

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