‘I don’t feel old’: Kevin Bacon still ready to cut loose
At age 66, he doesn’t want to kick off his Sunday shoes. Kevin Bacon can’t imagine slowing down.
“I don’t feel old,” the Hollywood icon says. “I have more energy now at this age. I take better care of myself and know more about food, exercise, meditation and relaxation. I know what’s important.”
He has figured that out in other ways, too.
“In your 20s, it’s all about you, you, you. You get a little older and it’s about them — what kind of world will you leave your children?” he says.
Bacon straddles this world and the next — hell, specifically — in his new comedy horror series, “The Bondsman,” streaming on Amazon.
His bounty hunter character Hub Halloran is facing tough times, largely because he has been murdered, then the devil recruits him postmortem to hunt wayward demons.
“You know, it’s just basically me kicking demon a— while also asking, ‘Now, what am I going to do?’ ” says the star of “Footloose,” “A Few Good Men” and “Mystic River.” “That’s a good question even when you’re not chasing demons.”
The Philly native and his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, split their time between Manhattan’s Upper West Side and Connecticut. They are parents of two grown kids, Sosie and Travis.
Bacon’s good life advice:
Attention seeker
Bacon is a born performer. “I was the youngest of six … with an eight-year gap between me and my next oldest sibling. When I would walk in a room as a little kid, I had this burning desire for everybody to look at me. I just wanted the attention!” he says with a laugh. “Through the years, I realized there is an actual skill set to acting that needs to be developed and trained. But it started with having as many eyeballs on me as possible.”
Show your range
He knew it was time to go a bit darker when “The Bondsman” came along. “He’s a badass and a child in some ways,” Bacon observes. “It’s a sweet family story. I live in my mother’s garage … at this age. I had a wife and son. The marriage fell apart. His life is a mess, and then something major happens to him.” Bacon says he appreciated the complexity of his character and a storyline that mixes comedy, action and horror. “There is even a musical component,” he adds. “I’m a songwriter and said, ‘I’ll write something, but you don’t have to use it. Don’t do me any favors. I want the show to be the best it can be.’” They ended up using three songs from the star who moonlights as the Bacon Brothers’ frontman.
Not that song
“My worst nightmare is to be at a wedding and the DJ puts on the ‘Footloose’ song,” Bacon confesses. “I don’t want the wedding to be about me with people forming a circle around me. This day is about the bride and groom! … I have gone to the DJs and said, ‘Please don’t play that song.’ It’s not because I don’t love the song. I’m 100 percent proud of the movie. And I still love to go out dancing. … But my kids still haven’t seen ‘Footloose.’ ”
Degrees of good
How does he really feel about the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game? “I was horrified at first,” he says. “I thought it was truly a joke at my expense, but it just didn’t fade. It hung in there.” In 2007, he adds, “I was trying to figure out a way to give back. I wanted to spread good. We launched SixDegrees.org. We focus on grassroots organizations and people out there in the field doing good work with children or the environment or social justice. We try to amplify those voices. It has been very satisfying.”
Act naturally
Bacon says getting out for hikes and working with the animals on his Connecticut farm keep him in prime shape. Meditating helps with shedding stress. His other healthy living tips? “When working, I like to use a break to take a short nap. I’ll close my eyes for 10 or 15 minutes. I have a routine: Lie on my back, elevate my feet and cross my hands over my chest. Afterwards, I’m good for 10 hours.” As for his eating habits, owning the 40-acre farm has changed Bacon. “I no longer eat goat or pig because I have goats and pigs,” he says. “My wife is like, ‘We can’t get any more animals because you’re going to stop eating everything.’ ” His idea of a great anniversary present? Their new goats, Macon and Louie.
Embrace failure
Bacon thought he would be a big movie star when “Animal House” came out. It didn’t happen for him back then. In fact, he had to go back to waiting tables for a bit. “A great humbling moment goes a long way in anyone’s life,” he says. “You can say, ‘Schmuck, you aren’t as cool as you think you are … so, now get to work.”
What matters
“I don’t think about the size of the budget or the size of the role,” he says. “Sometimes, it’s really fun to be in a $200 million movie, but it’s great to do a $2 million indie. I don’t care about the size of the part. If it’s a cool two pages, I’m there.”
A mother’s love
Bacon says that his mother, Ruth, was one of his biggest role models. “She went into the Philly prison system and built a playroom with art supplies and games that could be utilized on visiting day,” he recalls. “It was a way for prisoners to interact with their families. … She taught me to live with compassion. She would always say to think about the people who are not as fortunate as you, try to understand someone else’s point of view.”
Wedded bliss
One of Hollywood’s favorite couples, Bacon and Sedgwick have been married for 36 years and counting. His best marital advice? “Don’t take marriage advice from a celebrity. What I know is that coming home and having dinner with my wife is one of the best things on this Earth. We truly enjoy just being with each other,” he says.
