Kevin Bacon Was 'Resistant' to His 'Pop Star' Fame After Footloose: 'I Wanted to Be Meryl Streep'
Kevin Bacon says he was “very resistant” to his newfound level of fame after Footloose debuted in theaters.
The actor, 61, opened up about what his experience with his new recognition was like during the debut episode of The Corp podcast with Alex Rodriguez and Barstool Sports.
“There was such a machine sort of behind it once they knew that they had a hit,” Bacon said of the 1984 film’s massive success. “And once they wanted to keep people on then it was like the press and the this and the that and the weird thing was that, for me, even though it’s what I dreamed of and I’d fought so hard for, I was very resistant to it.”
He continued, “Because the movie in my mind, which I’m eternally grateful for that movie and I have nothing bad to say about it, but I had an image of myself at that point.”
That image didn’t coincide with Bacon’s new reality.
“I’d put aside the pop star idea because I’d fallen in love with the craft of acting, you know, and I wanted to be Meryl Streep. I didn’t want to be David Cassidy and so when the movie came out, I was a pop star.”
Since Footloose, Bacon has starred in several films including Apollo 13, A Few Good Men, Mystic River, X-Men: First Class and the series I Love Dick.
Bacon currently stars in the Showtime series City on a Hill, which is executive produced by Ben Affleck. The actor admitted he “would never touch television” when he was starting out in Hollywood.
“I was like television? No, if my agent ever came to me and said I got a television show, I would fire the agent,” Bacon said.
Since then, his perspective on the medium has changed.
“First off, television is amazing. I mean look at this part I’m doing now. It’s great content,” he said of his new show. “It’s great parts. It’s better than the movies. I hate to say it. I love movies. That’s my bread and butter.”
