Kevin Bacon took years to earn respect as an actor in Hollywood.
Kevin Bacon
The 62-year-old star thinks his role in Oliver Stone’s 1991 drama ‘JFK’ was a pivotal moment in his career, acknowledging that he was "sliding back down the other side" of the mountain at that point.
He told NME: “I was kind of spinning my wheels career-wise at that point, having been to the top of the mountain in Hollywood with ‘Footloose’. But I was kind of sliding back down the other side. And that gave me an opportunity to redefine my career in a way that was really much more true to who I am.
“People said, ‘Wow, I never thought I’d see you do that!’ Of course, for me and for the people that actually knew me it was not a surprise, because I’d been doing a lot of theatre. And I’ve been doing, you know, crazy offbeat characters for a really long time. But to the general Hollywood industry, that was a new thing.”
Kevin started his career working in theatre and the first time he was on a film set, his jaw dropped to the floor and he fell in love with everything about it.
However, he was initially told that he was best suited to appearing in "soaps and commercials".
Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, he recalled: "They would say: ‘You’re gonna be good for the soaps and commercials. You’ll be the boy next door.’”
Kevin also admitted to being slightly envious of Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, because they've worked together so often in their careers.
He said: “I don’t get hired twice by directors all that often.
“I love it when you see that relationship, that Scorsese, De Niro-type thing. I’ve never had that but I’d love it."
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