KEVIN BACON’s EVIL SIDE
The actor reveals his method for turning villainous onscreen
‘HOLLYWOOD’S not gonna spend $25-30 million on a Kevin Bacon comedy. It’s not gonna happen,” says, oddly enough, Kevin Bacon.
The actor has played everything from a dancing rebel-with-a-cause in “Footloose” to a replacement astronaut in “Apollo 13.” But conspicuously missing from the 57-year-old actor’s impressive résumé are comedies.
“What would be great is to have some really fun cameo. I’m not asking anybody to build a full-on comedy around me. But to be able and go and do a fun cameo ... would be a blast,” he tells The Post.
Lately, though, Bacon has been going through a bit of a bad-guy phase — immersing himself in the psyches of killers, mutants, henchmen and other deviant characters.
Along those lines, he’s starring in the new thriller “Cop Car,” out Friday, as a shady sheriff whose vehicle is stolen by two 10-year-old boys who discover a dangerous secret in the trunk. The creepy, quiet role fits snugly in Bacon’s wheelhouse. What’s with all the villains? “In general, in Hollywood, if you do something well, then people want you to do it again,” he says.
And Bacon does bad well. Of course, he likes to think of these miscreants as not evil, but “complex.”
“The idea that bad guys are monsters ... it’s
sadly not true. If [the character were] a monster, then we would send out a superhero or a ray gun to get rid of him,” he explains. “But people who do bad things are human beings. And that’s much more frightening to me.”
This intense actor’s process for becoming scary rogues is detailed and involved. He creates long back stories for every role he inhabits, and makes playlists of music that his characters would listen to.
The “Cop Car” playlist for his “outlaw country” sheriff includes “Willie [Nelson] and Waylon [Jennings], George Jones and Lynyrd Skynyrd. He probably stopped listening [to new music] in about 1980 and doesn’t like the new stuff. He doesn’t like Taylor Swift.”
Music is a big part of Bacon’s real life. He plays guitar and sings in the Bacon Brothers band with his brother Michael. But he’s not actively looking to merge that passion with his film work.
“I’m not opposed to bringing it into my film life, but I don’t want to force it in, because I think it does a disservice to both sides of my career. People sometimes will send me something where I would play a musician, or it would be music-related, and they’ll think that will be a hook for me. But I don’t really feel that way. I’m not looking to films to put myself musically out there,” he says.
For now, he just wants a shot at making people laugh. His dream co-star: Amy Schumer. “Hell yeah!”
Willie and Waylon, George Jones and Lynyrd Skynyrd. He doesn’t like Taylor Swift.” — Kevin Bacon on his character’s music preferences