Rob Lowe is still upset about missing out on this big Hollywood hit – 40 years later

Rob Lowe at the premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 last year

Four decades have passed since one of Rob LoweIt's one of Hollywood's biggest rejections – but he admitted he's still not over it.

In the early '80s, Rob was in the running to play the lead role in the big screen musical Free from all tiesto then lose the role of Kevin Bacon.

“The horrible thing is, I was the guy. I was going to get this role, I just had to do the dance, which was actually to a Styx song. Not useful,” he recalled to USA Today.

“But it ended with me sliding to my knees on the floor. My knee just exploded. They took me away on a stretcher.

Rob continued: “As they were bringing me out, the producers were like, 'We're going to have to find a real professional dancer.' A week into rehab, I read that they had cast Kevin Bacon. That's when I learned what Hollywood was.

Kevin Bacon in 1984's Footloose

He added: “There are two ways in which I have been very helpful to the careers of other actors. Blowing out my knee really helped Kevin Bacon, and turning down Grey's Anatomy really helped Patrick Dempsey.

“I talked to Kevin about it. He said to me, “You wouldn’t have gotten it anyway.”

Footloose, of course, has become a huge hit and will celebrate its 40th anniversary later this year.

Upon its release in 1984, Footloose was one of the highest-grossing films of that year and sparked a hugely successful soundtrack album, which included the hugely popular Kenny Loggins title song and Let's Hear It For The Boy by Deniece Williams, both received Oscar nods.

The soundtrack also included Bonnie Tyler's classic Holding Out For A Hero, written especially for the film.

Last year, Kevin Bacon cleared up a particular mystery surrounding the film that had haunted fans for decades, after revealing that the ending was meant to be “completely redone.”

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