Kevin Bacon Quotes

A good director creates an environment, which gives the actor the encouragement to fly.

- Kevin Bacon

Fly, Environment, Which, Actor

I think of being an actor as kind of a young man's gig. It's emasculating, in a way, people messing with you and putting make-up on you and telling you when to wake up and when to go to sleep, holding your hand to cross the street. I can do it up to a certain point, and then I start to feel like a puppet.

- Kevin Bacon

I Think, Messing, Telling, Gig

There are people who tell you to shut up because you're just a celebrity, but pundits, talking heads, they're every bit the celebrity and a lot of them aren't any more qualified than the average man on the street.

- Kevin Bacon

Celebrity, Average, Shut, Qualified

My father was into fame and leaving his mark. He was a city planner, sort of a genius in that world, the Robert Moses of Philadelphia. He was on the cover of 'Time' once, and I remember going to his office and seeing, like, two hundred copies, which he would hand out to people.

- Kevin Bacon

City, I Remember, Hundred, Robert

I really believe that all of us have a lot of darkness in our souls. Anger, rage, fear, sadness. I don't think that's only reserved for people who have horrible upbringings. I think it really exists and is part of the human condition. I think in the course of your life you figure out ways to deal with that.

- Kevin Bacon

Sad, Deal, I Think, Human Condition

Before Footloose, the things I'd done weren't cute. In Diner I was an alcoholic.

- Kevin Bacon

Before, Footloose, Were, Diner

Being with Kyra is so natural for me; it's the easiest aspect of my life. I know that I don't need a beach or room service to be happy.

- Kevin Bacon

My Life, Natural, Need, Room Service

I don't read my own reviews and I haven't for probably 15 years. I read other people's reviews, though.

- Kevin Bacon

Other, Read, Though, Reviews

Here's the thing - I mean, I don't act for statues. I really don't. The great thing about winning an award is that it creates opportunities.

- Kevin Bacon

Winning, Here, Statues, Great Thing

I did a year of 'Guiding Light', and I was going to be a movie actor or a stage actor, but not a TV actor. That just wasn't going to happen. And obviously, things changed so remarkably.

- Kevin Bacon

Happen, Movie, TV, Remarkably

Certainly, network television in general relies a little bit too much on keeping people focused and emotional and scared and pushing the envelope by building wall-to-wall music.

- Kevin Bacon

Certainly, Keeping, Network Television

The most challenging work and the best work I've ever done was in a thing I did for PBS called 'Lemon Sky', a play by Lanford Wilson. I think it's the rawest, most complex work that I've had to do, and the thing I'm most proud of.

- Kevin Bacon

Best, Play, I Think, PBS

The greats are 'The Shining', 'Rosemary's Baby', 'Don't Look Now', 'The Exorcist' - those movies were not really slashers: they were about psychological terror and had very deep emotional backdrops. If we do our best, '6 Miranda Drive' can be that kind of a movie.

- Kevin Bacon

Deep, Very, Psychological, Shining

I'm a vagabond. I have a suitcase that is ready to go at a moment's notice. The thought of being in one place for a long time, or playing one character for a long time, is terrifying for me.

- Kevin Bacon

Thought, Go, Terrifying, Suitcase

I always have a suitcase ready to go. My wife and I are both very much like this. We're both vagabonds, and we have been since the time we were married.

- Kevin Bacon

Always, Been, Very, Suitcase

I'm an actor. It's what I do. It's what I chose to do with my life when I was a little boy, and that's what Im still doing. I like to work. I came up with a work ethic, and that's just what I do.

- Kevin Bacon

My Life, Doing, Still, Ethic

Part of being a man is learning to take responsibility for your successes and for your failures. You can't go blaming others or being jealous. Seeing somebody else's success as your failure is a cancerous way to live.

- Kevin Bacon

Being A Man, Failures, Part, Blaming

As I was coming up on the stage, there was one source that could make or break you, the New York Times. Inevitably there would be one actor singled out for a better review, or worse, than somebody else. The effect of that was cancerous, divisive.

- Kevin Bacon

Out, Source, Divisive, Singled

We are being choked to death by the amount of plastic that we throw away. It's killing our oceans. It's entering into our bodies in the fish we eat.

- Kevin Bacon

Death, Away, Amount, Oceans

The way I analyze a script, I don't look at how many days I have off. I see how far they're going to push me. That's just the way I am.

- Kevin Bacon

Going, How Far, I See, Analyze

You can sit around and complain that Hollywood doesn't make any good movies. But you can generate your own material. So I read books. I come up with ideas. I was the producer on 'The Woodsman' to help get that off the ground. Sometimes that extends itself to directing.

- Kevin Bacon

Own, Hollywood, Good Movies, Generate

I wanted to do something heroic if I was going to be on TV. And the first thing that appeals to me once I have decided I don't want to be the bad guy is to find things that are not black and white.

- Kevin Bacon

Bad, Bad Guy, TV, Appeals

Gary Oldman is impossible to steal a movie from. He's such a great actor, he's off the hook. I love him.

- Kevin Bacon

Love, Movie, Steal, None

'Animal House' was my first movie, so I didn't have anything to compare it to. I was a sight gag more than anything else. So I can't say it was one of those things where your life changes. When the movie came out, I had to ask for the night off at the bar.

- Kevin Bacon

Changes, Movie, Compare, Gag

I like to hike and cook. I enjoy furniture and design - not making it, just looking at it. I'm always kind of trying to spread my interests around and try new things.

- Kevin Bacon

New, Always, Making, Just Looking

I have a natural swagger.

- Kevin Bacon

Natural, Swagger

'The River Wild' was great, with Meryl Streep. That guy was really a bad dude who was ultimately sort of fundamentally impotent in a weird way. That was kind of interesting.

- Kevin Bacon

Kind, Bad, Meryl, Dude

I'm very comfortable being married to an extremely strong, opinionated, and driven woman. But I also sit at the head of the table. I have both of those sides to me.

- Kevin Bacon

Strong, Woman, Very, Sit

From the time I signed on to 'The Following,' things have already vastly changed in the entertainment world in general. It's an adjustment for me.

- Kevin Bacon

Entertainment World, Vastly

I think one of the most pervasive evils in this world is greed and acquiring money for money's sake. Once you have six houses and a plane, it's just about a number. It's never been anything I understood.

- Kevin Bacon

Been, I Think, Plane, Understood

I was in the first 'Friday The 13th,' and that was a microbudget horror film.

- Kevin Bacon

Film, Horror, First, Friday

'X-Men: First Class' was fun.

- Kevin Bacon

Class, First Class, First, X-Men

The whole industry is changing because so many people watch things on DVR, and they watch things on other platforms, and I think everybody is kind of scratching their heads about how this is going to play out.

- Kevin Bacon

Play, Other, Everybody, Scratching

People work so hard, and I want to keep that energy up, and you can spread that if you're the actor. But I'm also not able to turn it on and off like a faucet. A lot of what I'm called upon to play is violent or angry. When I'm messing around with the crew and making jokes, I remember, 'Oh, this is the guy I normally am.'

- Kevin Bacon

Play, Violent, Messing, Normally

Somebody with a billion followers can tweet, 'See my movie,' and it can still tank. Followers don't always translate into success because I think people are too savvy. When something takes off, it's because people are connecting to it - not because someone with a lot of followers says to care about it.

- Kevin Bacon

Movie, I Think, About, Savvy

In my movie work, if I do one guy, the next guy I do, I want to do something kind of different. Even in terms of genre - it's really great to mix it up a little.

- Kevin Bacon

Next, Movie, Something Kind, Mix

I do struggle with how much and in which way, as an artist or celebrity, that you voice your political views.

- Kevin Bacon

Voice, Celebrity, Which, Struggle

To me, the struggle is to try to make a less-well-written or less-well-rounded character and find who they are. If you really get it, and it's all on the page, then it's really just gonna pop out at you.

- Kevin Bacon

Gonna, Then, Really, Struggle

The business that people do in LA on the social level is amazing. You go to a restaurant, bump into this guy or that guy. The next day you get a call, and they want you in their movie.

- Kevin Bacon

Business, Next, Movie, La

I always have to make it as clear as I possibly can that fame is 99.9 percent good.

- Kevin Bacon

Fame, Always, Clear, Possibly

It does get old to have to always be a monkey in a zoo. I don't know what it's like any more to be anonymous.

- Kevin Bacon

Monkey, Always, Like, Anonymous

Kevin's mind goes to extremely interesting places. Every time we get a script, I go, 'Oh my God, I really didn't see that coming'.

- Kevin Bacon

Mind, Goes, Oh My God, Every Time

I'm new to this TV thing, at least as an actor. It's a challenge. The thing I have to adjust to is the changing directors every week. That's new for me. I tend to establish with a director - and then two days later, he's gone.

- Kevin Bacon

Week, TV, Directors, Establish

From an acting standpoint, when I was a kid, I thought I knew everything there was to know. As the years go by, this craft becomes more intensive as I get older. You realize how much more there is to know and to learn, and how much better you can get, if you really work at it.

- Kevin Bacon

Thought, Kid, Craft, Standpoint

I think we all have a lot of darkness in our bellies. As an actor, the challenge of tapping into that, reaching down into that sadness or anger, is very therapeutic.

- Kevin Bacon

Think, Very, Tapping, Bellies

My brother is the lifelong musician; he made the choice to do that when we were very, very young kids. I remember him playing in bands and listening to the music he was writing in the house - he's nine years older than me.

- Kevin Bacon

I Remember, Nine, Very, Young Kids

There is this idea that your social media platform is the secret to success, but no one has quite proven that to be true, if you ask me.

- Kevin Bacon

Be True, Idea, Social, Social Media

For years and years, people would say, 'The business is changing.' And I would say, 'The business is not changing. It's exactly the same as it was in the '70s, the '80s and the '90s.' But all of a sudden, the business changed, and it really did change.

- Kevin Bacon

Business, Years And Years, Changed

One of the top comments I get from people is, 'Oh my God, you're like a regular person!' That's kind of a bizarre thing to live with. I know a lot of famous people, and their lives may not be regular, but they are regular people.

- Kevin Bacon

Top, Bizarre, Lot, Regular

With 'Transparent'. When Amazon put 'Transparent' up, along with 'Bosch' and a few other things, I watched them, and I thought it was an interesting exercise. I didn't comment on them, but I was like, 'Okay, this is kind of cool.'

- Kevin Bacon

Thought, Other, Okay, Comment

I have fond memories of Chris Penn, who's sadly not with us. He always made me laugh - it was great to be with him.

- Kevin Bacon

Always, Penn, Sadly, Laugh

'Kung Fury!' I mean, Jesus, that thing is amazing.

- Kevin Bacon

Amazing, Jesus, Fury, Kung

I think of myself more as a workhorse actor. It will be hot and cold and up and down, but no one will kick me out of the business.

- Kevin Bacon

Business, Think, I Think, Up And Down

My kids don't watch my movies. What I want to do is go home and hug my kids, talk to them and engage with them.

- Kevin Bacon

Want, Go, Go Home, Hug

I wasn't going off to New York to be more famous than my father, but in retrospect, that certainly was driving me. He was famous in Philadelphia, but it was also really important to him to be famous. And to a certain extent, I got some of that, even though there were parts of it that horrified me.

- Kevin Bacon

Father, Some, Extent, Horrified

If you look at my movie career, I do switch it up a lot. I'm always looking for a lot of different parts. It's been a while since I've been in a situation that was romantic.

- Kevin Bacon

Career, Always, Been, Switch

Some people have therapy, some people are alcoholics or they're in AA. Some people jump out of planes on weekends or find ways to release this kind of thing. And for me, it's acting. I find acting very therapeutic for whatever it is.

- Kevin Bacon

Some, Weekends, Very, Therapeutic

I've played a lot of bad guys, and I'm pretty good at leaving my work at the office. And I look at acting as having a certain sort of therapeutic nature to it.

- Kevin Bacon

Bad, Pretty, Having, Therapeutic

There's this American dream to put enough away that you can golf and build a birdhouse or just be in a Barcalounger watching football all day. I'll never be that guy. And I'm not really sure the people who have that are all that happy. Our desires as a man are to work, plow ahead, and overcome conflict.

- Kevin Bacon

Happy, Ahead, Away, Conflict

I just let the work speak for itself. An actor is not afraid to take risks; to put on different hats; to be a good guy, a bad guy, a victim, an abuser. There are all kinds of people in the world, and playing them is what acting is all about.

- Kevin Bacon

Hats, Bad, Bad Guy, Good Guy

For my wife and I, for so many years, a lot of our identity was based on being Hollywood haters. We were like, 'We're east-coast. We're New Yorkers. This is just a place that we have to come to, but not by choice.'

- Kevin Bacon

Hollywood, So Many Years, Haters

I've made three studio albums and one live one with my brother. It's melodic singer-songwriter acoustic-rock music.

- Kevin Bacon

Studio, Albums, Melodic, Singer-Songwriter

I'm not someone who comes onstage and says, 'I'm rewriting this now.' I don't think it's fair to the writers or the director, or the other actors.

- Kevin Bacon

Think, Director, Other, Rewriting

I'd love to be a pop idol. Of course, my groupies are now between 40 and 50.

- Kevin Bacon

Love, Now, Pop, Groupies

I'd really like to get the girl, shoot the gun, drive the car, have fun. I even have these kind of action dreams, where I'm the action guy.

- Kevin Bacon

Gun, Kind, Like, Shoot

I like directing. It takes a lot out of you, but I'd like to do it again - I just have to find a story I want to tell.

- Kevin Bacon

Want, Like, Again, Directing

If you look at films about becoming a man, coming-of-age movies are made with 12-, 16-, 40-, 50-year-olds... For a guy to feel like he's a 100 percent grown-up is almost like giving up. Like admitting that you're on your way into the grave.

- Kevin Bacon

Giving Up, Becoming, Almost, Admitting

My family survived losing money to Bernie Madoff incredibly well compared to others.

- Kevin Bacon

Money, Well, Incredibly, Survived

I feel like my responsibility as an actor is to make characters as compelling and believable as possible.

- Kevin Bacon

Feel, Like, Compelling, Believable

There are some actor secrets you keep sometimes, and you want to keep.

- Kevin Bacon

Actor, Some, Keep, Secrets

I like to play characters, man. I almost don't even think of them as good guys or bad guys. I know that's a hard thing to realize, but I really just think of them as characters.

- Kevin Bacon

Play, Think, Bad, Realize

Show me an actor who doesn't want to be famous, and I'll show you a liar. Later, you realise that there's more to it than just the acquisition of fame, and money and girls. But that is what drives them and was what drove me, initially.

- Kevin Bacon

Famous, More, Drove, Liar

I'll be honest with you. My kids don't watch my movies and never have. I can maybe name a film one hand that they've seen, actually, all the way through.

- Kevin Bacon

Through, Film, Maybe, Hand

Fame is very much a double-edged sword.

- Kevin Bacon

Very, Double-Edged Sword, Sword

I used to live on Riverside Park in New York, on the Upper West Side.

- Kevin Bacon

New, Side, West Side, Park

There are very few things that are purely conceptual without any hard content.

- Kevin Bacon

Very, Purely, Few Things, Conceptual

If I'm in a situation where someone doesn't recognize me and treats me like everyone else, I'm not used to it.

- Kevin Bacon

Used, Like, Everyone Else, Situation

There is a lesson there about greed and it is a lesson I am willing to learn as well. Has it made me a distrustful person? I don't think so. But we probably look a bit more carefully at our financial situation now.

- Kevin Bacon

Financial, Willing, About, Situation

A moustache is actually the one thing I really can grow. One of the bad parts about my facial hair situation is that I can't grow sideburns. I'm happy to still have my own hair on my head, but I can't grow any sideburns. If you ever see me with sideburns, they're not real.

- Kevin Bacon

Happy, Own, Bad, Situation

I don't watch the movies I make, so I haven't seen 'Footloose' since it came out. You see this young, hungry actor, it's pretty fun. I was the only one they screen tested. It was an attempt by the director and producer to talk the head of the studio into hiring me because they didn't want me.

- Kevin Bacon

Young, Studio, Hiring, Producer

Fame is something that is tough when it comes. It's a weird thing to take on in real life. I was a little bit afraid and, as a result, kind of turned my back on it. You should embrace it because it's going to be a part of who you are, and it's going to be a part of what this business is about.

- Kevin Bacon

Part, Weird Thing, Turned, Real Life

I like playing complex, interesting characters. Sometimes I don't think there's much of a strong line between right and wrong for a character. Every character is somewhere on a moral spectrum.

- Kevin Bacon

Strong, Think, Like, Spectrum

If you're an actor, even a successful one, you're still waiting for the phone to ring.

- Kevin Bacon

Waiting, Actor, Still, Successful

I want to see the numbers that prove that show-business marriages are any less successful than other marriages. It's just very public when they fail.

- Kevin Bacon

Prove, Other, Very, Successful

My dad was an architect, and he wasn't a rich guy, but in our little world in Philadelphia, he was famous. He loved to see his picture in the paper. I wanted to be more famous than him.

- Kevin Bacon

Famous, More, Dad, Philadelphia

Doing funny scary is something that is rarely good and rarely works, and it's also something that's incredibly hard to market.

- Kevin Bacon

Doing, Works, Also, Rarely

You have to have something in your life that's more important than the work. People don't really like to admit that. They say, 'Oh, my work is my most important thing.'

- Kevin Bacon

Work, More, Like, They Say

There are two things that create opportunities. One is being involved with something that makes money, and the other is winning awards. And the reason that winning the awards creates the opportunities is because it gives the people who are selling the picture the opportunity to make more money.

- Kevin Bacon

Reason, Two, Other, Awards

I always wanted, and still aspire, to be something more than just one thing, just one performance.

- Kevin Bacon

More, Always, Still, Aspire

When I go home, I try to raise my children with honesty and integrity and teach them to take care of the world and of each other.

- Kevin Bacon

Teach, Other, Go Home, Care

When it comes to music, it's my clothes, it's my guitar, it's my voice, it's my song.

- Kevin Bacon

Music, Voice, Song, Clothes

I'd always tried not to worry about the size of the role or the size of the film.

- Kevin Bacon

Worry, Always, Tried, Size

I don't have any plans of slowing down. I love being an actor.

- Kevin Bacon

Love, Actor, I Love, Slowing

Clint Eastwood has always been a hero.

- Kevin Bacon

Always, Been, Eastwood, Clint

I still want to make Kyra proud of the person I am - father, husband, actor, musician.

- Kevin Bacon

Proud, Want, Still, Musician

When it happened to us and it was all gone overnight, we said, 'We are in this together, we are healthy, our children are healthy and we can work'.

- Kevin Bacon

Work, Gone, Our, Happened

If you take me out of it, I find 'six degrees' to be a beautiful concept that we should try to live by. It's about compassion and responsibility for everyone on the planet.

- Kevin Bacon

Everyone, Planet, Six, To Live By

I try to show compassion to people I come into contact with and try to put good out, as much good as I can. But that's my life; that's not my work. With my work, my job is to walk in another man's shoes.

- Kevin Bacon

Work, My Life, Another, Contact

L.A. kind of scares me.

- Kevin Bacon

Me, Kind, Scares

I'm always happier and a better actor when I can really lose myself in a character and become somebody else.

- Kevin Bacon

Myself, Lose, Always, Better Actor

I started making movies in 1977, and I didn't even think about the idea that I would ever be on a television show. Once I finished the 'Guiding Light,' I was like, 'I'm done with television!'

- Kevin Bacon

Think, Making, Like, Making Movies

There are two types of actors: those who say they don't want to be famous, and those who are liars.

- Kevin Bacon

Famous, Want, Types, Liars

Critics can be your most important friend. I don't read criticism of my stuff only because when it's bad, it's rough-and when it's good, it's not good enough.

- Kevin Bacon

Not Good Enough, Bad, Read, Criticism

I don't want to stop acting, but acting in some ways is a young man's game.

- Kevin Bacon

Game, Some, Ways, Acting

Whether it's my age or my misspent youth, sometimes I forget whether I've worked with somebody or not.

- Kevin Bacon

Forget, Sometimes, Whether, Worked

I don't have to do the lead. If I dig a part, I'll do it.

- Kevin Bacon

Dig, Part, Lead

I've been in silly movies and romantic movies and historic movies.

- Kevin Bacon

Movies, Been, Historic, Silly

Do you want to be the guy with a game named after you or be the one with 18 Oscar nominations?

- Kevin Bacon

Game, Want, Named, Oscar

Keep doing what you're doing. Don't be afraid of fame.

- Kevin Bacon

Doing, Afraid, Keep, Fame

I started working in the mid-to-late Seventies, when television was not what it is now.

- Kevin Bacon

Working, Television, Now, Seventies

I'm obsessed with zombies. I like watching zombie movies and I read zombie books.

- Kevin Bacon

Movies, Books, Read, Obsessed

Any idiot can get laid when they're famous. That's easy. It's getting laid when you're not famous that takes some talent.

- Kevin Bacon

Famous, Some, Laid, Idiot

There's the most resistance to an actor singing. It's like I'm being disloyal to my industry.

- Kevin Bacon

Singing, Most, Disloyal, Actor

With a lot of actors, you've got to chip through the surface to see who the real person is.

- Kevin Bacon

Through, Lot, Chip, Real Person

'Gogglebox' is a show where you watch people watch television.

- Kevin Bacon

Watch, Show, Where, Television

Great writing makes great television.

- Kevin Bacon

Great, Writing, Makes, Television

I would say invisibility would be sort of a fun power to have just to see what it was like to move through the world and not be looked at.

- Kevin Bacon

Through, Like, Move, Looked

Things could be worse. You remember that, and you go on with your life.

- Kevin Bacon

Remember, Could, Things, Worse

Ninety-five percent of celebrity is good.

- Kevin Bacon

Good, Celebrity, Percent

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