Kevin Bacon was initially offended by the '6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon' game.
Kevin Bacon
The 61-year-old actor became the subject of the game - which challenges players to connect anyone involved in the film industry back to Kevin through their film roles in six steps or less - back in 1994, and has said he originally believed the creators of the game were "making fun" of him.
Speaking on Alex Rodriguez's podcast 'The Corp', Kevin said: "[I thought] 'They're making fun of me.' I'm an actor. I thought the joke was, 'Can you believe that such a lightweight could be connected to Laurence Olivier or Meryl Streep or whatever in six steps or less?'
"That's how that's just the actor's insecurity. That's how I felt."
The 'Footloose' star previously spoke about the game in 2012, when he said he was "absolutely horrified" to learn of its existence, because he thought he would become a "laughingstock".
He said at the time: "In 1994, I'm minding my own business, I'm making movies and raising my family. People would come up to me like, 'My cousin came up with a game about you.'
"I was absolutely horrified. I know its a cliche, but actors, behind all the muscles and shining white teeth and low-cut dresses, it really is just masking a lot of deep, deep insecurity. I thought, 'I'm going to be a laughingstock.' "
But Kevin didn't take the game to heart for long, as in 2007 he set up a charity named Six Degrees, which encourages people to donate or raise money for any charity within the United States.
Speaking previously about the charity, the 'City on a Hill' actor said: "If you take me out of the six degrees idea it really is a beautiful concept because we really are all connected. The things that we do here now, in our block, affect people on the other side of the world and they affect people on the other side of town."
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