Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Our initial interaction was good, I made a little joke while he was in the makeup chair and he built on it. And then when I called him “Mr. Bacon,” he immediately made it Kevin.

But after that, he was a little hard to connect with. Kevin was always agreeable, and more responsive to ideas than most actors at his level, but he never quite let me in.

We talked about some of his favorite music (Sam Cooke, Sly & The Family Stone), about living in New York, I even asked about his first film role role, in Animal House in 1978. 

We were on the fire escape for the second set up. It was a tight base, so it was just the two of us in the open air of a balmy New York morning. In researching for the session I was impressed by 36 years with wife Kyra Sedgwick, and asked for relationship advice. Even here, I could not connect, as he gave the coy response of, “Never ask celebrities for marriage advice,” and looked away with a smirk.

Kevin Bacon carries that star charisma, but this time my camera stayed at six degrees of separation.