Editing Kevin Bacon (section)

== Acting career ==
{{main|Kevin Bacon filmography}}

=== Early work ===
Bacon left home at age 17 to pursue a theater career in New York City, where he appeared in a production at the [[Circle in the Square|Circle in the Square Theater School]]. "I wanted life, man, the real thing", he later recalled to [[Nancy Mills]] of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]''. "The message I got was 'The arts are it. Business is the devil's work. Art and creative expression are next to godliness.' Combine that with an immense ego and you wind up with an actor."<ref name="cosmo91">''Cosmopolitan''. March 1991, p. 92.</ref>
Bacon's debut in the [[fraternities and sororities|fraternity]] comedy ''[[Animal House|National Lampoon's Animal House]]'' (1978) did not lead to the fame he had sought, and Bacon returned to waiting tables and auditioning for small roles in theater.<ref name="bacon">{{cite web|title=Kevin Bacon: 6 Things You Didn't Know|url=http://www.biography.com/news/kevin-bacon-biography-facts|publisher=biography.com|access-date=October 12, 2014|archive-date=April 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403203113/https://www.biography.com/news/kevin-bacon-biography-facts|url-status=dead}}</ref> He briefly worked on the television soap operas ''[[Search for Tomorrow]]'' (1979) and ''[[Guiding Light]]'' (1980–81) in New York.

=== 1980s ===
In 1980, he appeared in the slasher film [[Friday the 13th (1980 film)|''Friday the 13th'']].<ref>{{cite web|title=Happy Halloween: Stars who got their start in horror flicks|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/happy-halloween-superstars-start-horror-flick-gallery-1.98345|publisher=nydailynews.com|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> Some of his early-stage work included ''[[Getting Out]]'', performed at New York's [[Phoenix Theater]], and ''[[Flux]]'', at [[Second Stage Theatre]] during their 1981–1982 season.<ref name="bio">{{cite web|title=Kevin Bacon|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/profiles/kevin-bacon%C2%A0/|publisher=pbs.org|access-date=October 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530033240/http://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/profiles/kevin-bacon%c2%a0/ |archive-date=May 30, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1982, he won an [[Obie Award]] for his role in ''[[Forty Deuce]]'',<ref name="kevin">{{cite magazine|title=Kevin Bacon biography|url=http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kevin-bacon/bio/160550|magazine=TV Guide|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> and soon afterward he made his Broadway debut in ''[[Slab Boys]]'', with then-unknowns [[Sean Penn]] and [[Val Kilmer]]. However, it was not until he portrayed Timothy Fenwick that same year in [[Barry Levinson]]'s film ''[[Diner (1982 film)|Diner]]''{{spaced ndash}}costarring [[Steve Guttenberg]], [[Daniel Stern (actor)|Daniel Stern]], [[Mickey Rourke]], [[Tim Daly]], and [[Ellen Barkin]]{{spaced ndash}}that he made an indelible impression on film critics and moviegoers alike.<ref>{{cite web|title=Diner' 30th Anniversary: 25 Things You Didn't Know About The Guys-and-Fries Classic|url=http://news.moviefone.com/2012/03/02/diner-30th-anniversary/|publisher=moviefone|access-date=October 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021030336/http://news.moviefone.com/2012/03/02/diner-30th-anniversary/|archive-date=October 21, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Bolstered by the attention garnered by his performance in ''Diner'', Bacon starred in ''[[Footloose (1984 film)|Footloose]]'' (1984).<ref name="bio"/> Richard Corliss of ''TIME'' likened ''Footloose'' to the [[James Dean]] classic ''[[Rebel Without a Cause]]'' and the old [[Mickey Rooney]]/[[Judy Garland]] musicals, commenting that the film includes "motifs on book burning, mid-life crisis, AWOL parents, fatal car crashes, drug enforcement, and Bible Belt vigilantism."<ref name="time84">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,950019,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830035710/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,950019,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 30, 2008|title=Revel Without a Cause|author=Richard Corliss|magazine=TIME|date=February 20, 1984}}</ref> To prepare for the role, Bacon enrolled at a high school as a transfer student named "Ren McCormick" and studied teenagers before leaving in the middle of the day.<ref name="bacon"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Kevin Bacon Got Bullied By High Schoolers While Prepping For 'Footloose'|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/25/kevin-bacon-footloose_n_5710413.html|access-date=October 10, 2014|publisher=huffington post}}</ref> Bacon earned strong reviews for ''Footloose''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/522:492/1/Kevin_Bacon.htm |title=Kevin Bacon |publisher=Biography Channel |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109152125/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/522%3A492/1/Kevin_Bacon.htm |archive-date=January 9, 2009 }}</ref>
Bacon's critical and box office success led to a period of [[typecasting (acting)|typecasting]] in roles similar to the two he portrayed in ''Diner'' and ''Footloose'', and he had difficulty shaking this on-screen image. For the next several years he chose films that cast him against either type and experienced, by his own estimation, a career slump.

After a cameo in [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]]'s 1987 comedy ''[[Planes, Trains and Automobiles]]'',<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cormier |first1=Roger |title=15 Moving Facts About 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/71594/14-moving-facts-about-planes-trains-and-automobiles |access-date=December 9, 2022 |work=Mental Floss |date=November 22, 2017}}</ref> Bacon starred in John Hughes's 1988 comedy ''[[She's Having a Baby]]'',<ref name="bio"/> and the following year he was in another comedy called ''[[The Big Picture (1989 film)|The Big Picture]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Second Wind Is Blowing For Kevin Bacon|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/25/movies/a-second-wind-is-blowing-for-kevin-bacon.html|work=new york times|access-date=October 12, 2014|date=September 25, 1994}}</ref>

=== 1990s ===
In 1990, Bacon had two successful roles. He played a character who saved his town from under-the-earth "graboid" monsters in the comedy/horror film ''[[Tremors (1990 film)|Tremors]]'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Tremors Review|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE2DE1631F93AA25752C0A966958260|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=October 12, 2014|date= January 19, 1990|author=Vincent Canby}}</ref> and he portrayed an earnest medical student experimenting with death in [[Joel Schumacher]]'s ''[[Flatliners]]''.<ref name="bio"/>

In Bacon's next project he starred opposite [[Elizabeth Perkins]] in ''[[He Said, She Said (film)|He Said, She Said]]''. Despite lukewarm reviews and low audience turnout, ''He Said, She Said'' was illuminating for Bacon. Required to play a character with sexist attitudes, he admitted that the role was not that large a stretch for him.<ref name="bio"/>

By 1991, Bacon began to give up the idea of playing leading men in big-budget films and to remake himself as a character actor. "The only way I was going to be able to work on 'A' projects with really 'A' directors was if I wasn't the guy who was starring", he confided to ''[[The New York Times]]'' writer Trip Gabriel. "You can't afford to set up a $40&nbsp;million movie if you don't have your star."<ref name="nyt94">{{cite news|title=A Second Wind Is Blowing For Kevin Bacon|author=Trip Gabriel|work=The New York Times|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E6D91F3BF936A1575AC0A962958260 |date=September 25, 1994}}</ref> He performed that year as gay prostitute Willie O'Keefe in [[Oliver Stone]]'s ''[[JFK (film)|JFK]]''<ref>{{cite web|title=Kevin Bacon|url=http://www.jfk-online.com/jfkbacon.html|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> and went on to play a prosecuting attorney in the military courtroom drama ''[[A Few Good Men (film)|A Few Good Men]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=A few good men|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/143158|publisher=tcm|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> Later that year he returned to the theater to play in ''Spike Heels'', directed by [[Michael Greif]].<ref name="bio" />

In 1994, Bacon earned a [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe]] nomination for his role in ''[[The River Wild]]'',<ref name="bio"/> opposite [[Meryl Streep]]. He described the film to Chase in ''Cosmopolitan'' as a "grueling shoot", in which "every one of us fell out of the boat at one point or another and had to be saved".

His next film, ''[[Murder in the First (film)|Murder in the First]]'', earned him the Broadcast Film Critic's Association Award in 1995,<ref name="bio"/> the same year that he starred in the [[blockbuster (entertainment)|blockbuster]] hit ''[[Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kevin Bacon Reprises His Roles from FOOTLOOSE, A FEW GOOD MEN, APOLLO 13, and More in UK Commercials|date=February 28, 2014 |url=http://collider.com/kevin-bacon-commercials-footloose/|publisher=collider|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> Bacon played a trademark dark role once again in ''[[Sleepers (film)|Sleepers]]'' (1996).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ebert|first1=Roger|title=Sleepers|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sleepers-1996|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> This part starkly contrasted with his appearance in the lighthearted romantic comedy, ''[[Picture Perfect (1997 film)|Picture Perfect]]'' (1997).<ref name="bio" />

Bacon made his debut as a director with the television film ''[[Losing Chase]]'' (1996), which was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, and won one.<ref name="austin">{{cite web |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/film/1997-02-07/283342/ |title=Losing Chase |last1=Macor |first1=Alison |date=February 7, 1997 |work=[[The Austin Chronicle]] |access-date=April 17, 2013}}</ref> Bacon again resurrected his oddball mystique that year as a mentally-challenged houseguest in ''[[Digging to China]]''<ref name="bio" /> and as a disc jockey corrupted by [[payola]] in ''[[Telling Lies in America (film)|Telling Lies in America]]''.<ref name="bio" /> As the executive producer of ''[[Wild Things (film)|Wild Things]]'' (1998), Bacon reserved a supporting role for himself and went on to star in ''[[Stir of Echoes]]'' (1999), directed by [[David Koepp]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Under the Radar—Horror Movies You May Have Missed: Stir of Echoes|date=September 13, 2013 |url=http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2013/09/under-the-raderhorror-movies-you-may-have-missed-stir-of-echoes|publisher=criminal element.com|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref>

=== 2000s ===
[[file:Kevin Bacon Cannes 2004.jpg|thumb|upright|Bacon at the 2004 [[Cannes Film Festival]]]]
In 2000, he appeared in [[Paul Verhoeven]]'s ''[[Hollow Man]].''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ebert|first1=Roger|title=The hollow man|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hollow-man-2000|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> Bacon, [[Colin Firth]] and [[Rachel Blanchard]] depict a [[ménage à trois]] in their film, ''[[Where the Truth Lies]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kevin Bacon Talks About "Where the Truth Lies"|url=http://movies.about.com/od/wherethetruthlies/a/truthkb101305.htm|publisher=about.com|access-date=October 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017080013/http://movies.about.com/od/wherethetruthlies/a/truthkb101305.htm|archive-date=October 17, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bacon and director [[Atom Egoyan]]  condemned the [[MPAA]] ratings board decision to rate the film "[[MPAA film rating system|NC-17]]" rather than the preferable "R". Bacon commented: "I don't get it, when I see films (that) are extremely violent, extremely objectionable sometimes in terms of the roles that women play, slide by with an R, no problem, because the people happen to have more of their clothes on."<ref>{{cite news|title=Kevin Bacon irked over movie rating|author=Bruce Kirkland|url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/2005/09/14/1216527.html|date=September 14, 2005|newspaper=Toronto Sun|access-date=July 19, 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120604150801/http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/2005/09/14/1216527.html|archive-date=June 4, 2012|url-status=usurped}}</ref> That same year, he played the gruff father in the family film ''[[My Dog Skip (film)|My Dog Skip]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=A.O. |date=January 12, 2000 |title='My Dog Skip': Fetch, Boy! Fetch the Wisdom of the Ages! |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/011200skip-film-review.html |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=New York Times}}</ref>

In 2003, Bacon acted with [[Sean Penn]] and [[Tim Robbins]] in [[Clint Eastwood]]'s movie ''[[Mystic River (film)|Mystic River]]''. He was again acclaimed for a dark starring role playing an offending pedophile on parole in ''[[The Woodsman (2004 film)|The Woodsman]]'' (2004), for which he was nominated for best actor and received the Independent Spirit Award.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Woodsman' (2004)|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-kevin-bacon-photo6-photo.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802203026/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-kevin-bacon-photo6-photo.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 2, 2014|newspaper=la times|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref>

In 2005, Bacon was in the comedy film ''[[Beauty Shop]]'' with [[Queen Latifah]]. He appeared in the [[HBO Films]] production of ''[[Taking Chance]]'' (2009), based on an eponymous story written by Lieutenant Colonel [[Michael Strobl]], an American [[Desert Storm]] war veteran.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kevin Bacon 'Taking Chance' body of fallen Marine home|date=February 20, 2009 |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/kevin-bacon-chance-body-fallen-marine-home-article-1.392226|publisher=nydailynews|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> The film premiered on HBO on February 21, 2009. Bacon won a Golden Globe Award and a [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie]] for his role.

=== 2010s ===
[[file:Black Mass PC 05 (21267276740).jpg|thumb|Bacon at the [[Toronto Film Festival]] in 2015]]
On July 15, 2010, it was confirmed that Bacon would appear in [[Matthew Vaughn]]'s ''[[X-Men: First Class]]'' as mutant villain [[Sebastian Shaw (comics)|Sebastian Shaw]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Kit|first=Borys|date=July 15, 2010|title='Winter's Bone' star cast in 'X-Men: First Class' (exclusive)|work=Heat Vision|url=http://heatvision.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/07/winters-bone-star-cast-as-mystique-in-xmen-first-class.html|access-date=September 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722010545/http://heatvision.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/07/winters-bone-star-cast-as-mystique-in-xmen-first-class.html|archive-date=July 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.forcesofgeek.com/2010/07/kevin-bacon-playing-sebastian-shaw-in-x.html |title=KEVIN BACON Playing SEBASTIAN SHAW in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS |publisher=forcesofgeek.com |date=July 16, 2010 |access-date=July 20, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100720060214/http://www.forcesofgeek.com/2010/07/kevin-bacon-playing-sebastian-shaw-in-x.html |archive-date=July 20, 2010 }}</ref> The film was released in 2011, the same year as the romantic comedy ''[[Crazy, Stupid, Love]]'', in which Kevin portrayed a co-worker involved in an affair.

In March 2012, Bacon was featured in a performance of [[Dustin Lance Black]]'s play, ''[[8 (play)|8]]'' – a staged reenactment of the [[Perry v. Brown|federal trial]] that overturned California's [[Proposition 8|Prop 8 ban]] on same-sex marriage – as Attorney [[Charles J. Cooper]].<ref name="8 the play">{{cite news |title='Glee' Stars 'Touched' By Pitt & Clooney's Support Of '8' |url=http://www.accesshollywood.com/jesse-tyler-ferguson/glee-stars-touched-by-brad-pitt-and-george-clooneys-support-of-8_article_61543|publisher=[[Access Hollywood]]. accesshollywood.com|access-date=March 18, 2012}}</ref> The production was held at the [[Wilshire Ebell Theatre]] and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the [[American Foundation for Equal Rights]].<ref name="8 play video">{{cite web|title="8": A Play about the Fight for Marriage Equality| date=March 3, 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlUG8F9uVgM| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/qlUG8F9uVgM| archive-date=December 11, 2021 | url-status=live|publisher=YouTube|access-date=March 18, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=YouTube to broadcast Proposition 8 play live|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/03/01/youtube-to-broadcast-proposition-8-play-live/|publisher=pinknews.co.uk|access-date=March 18, 2012}}</ref>

From 2013 to 2015, Bacon starred as Ryan Hardy in the FOX television series ''[[The Following]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Following|url=http://www.fox.com/the-following/|publisher=Fox|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> In 2013, he won a [[Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television]] for that role.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kevin Bacon Gives Millennials a History Lesson About the '80s|date=March 11, 2014 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/kevin-bacon-gives-millennials-a-history-lesson-about-the--80s-162525915.html|publisher=yahoo news|access-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> In 2015, he appeared in the crime film ''[[Black Mass (film)|Black Mass]]'', which starred [[Johnny Depp]].

In 2015, he said in a ''[[Huffington Post]]'' interview he would like to return to the [[Tremors (1990 film)|''Tremors'' franchise]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/kevin-bacon-tremors-tv-reboot_us_5655b651e4b072e9d1c13a11|title=Kevin Bacon Returns To 'Tremors' For TV Reboot|last=Delbyck|first=Cole|date=November 26, 2015|website=Huffington Post|access-date=February 3, 2018}}</ref> However, Bacon did not appear in ''[[Tremors 5: Bloodline]]'' (2015). He starred in ''[[Patriots Day (film)|Patriots Day]]'' in 2016, which was about the [[Boston Marathon bombing|2013 Boston Marathon bombing]].