Kevin Bacon Goes Undercover As A Regular Person And It Sucks
Many famous people have lamented the frustrations of stardom status over the years, citing desires to go out in public and live like a normal person, rather than being utterly swarmed by fans every time they step into a convenience store or theme park. For others, however, this lifestyle is far preferable to that of your average Joe, as it offers certain perks that aren’t afforded to the neighborhood movers, shakers, and happy homemakers. According to a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Kevin Bacon falls into the latter category, as he claims that living like a “regular” person absolutely sucks for him.
The Experiment
Fueled by boredom, and an excess of money and free time, Kevin Bacon met with a team of special effects makeup artists to develop realistic prosthetics that would make him unrecognizable, before venturing out into the world for a quick temperature check.
While donning the disguise, the famed actor took a leisurely stroll through The Grove, a Los Angeles shopping locale known to be swarming with consumers at all times.
Average Joe Bacon
Specifically, Kevin Bacon explained “People were kind of pushing past me, not being nice. Nobody said, ‘I love you.’ I had to wait in line to, I don’t know, buy a f****ing coffee or whatever. I was like, this sucks. I want to go back to being famous.”
Bacon’s humorous comments on the matter quickly went viral, as they demonstrate a few key differences between the life of a regular person and an ultra-famous recipient of a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
At the end of the day, it’s likely a good thing that Kevin Bacon enjoys his status as a beloved cinema icon. After all, it would be quite inconvenient to don the prosthetics every time he planned to spend a low-key day in public with friends or family members.
Still, his story may inspire other celebrities to follow suit, so we should all learn to exercise a bit more kindness to strangers, and not just because they might be Academy Award-winners.
Access Is Nice
Under normal circumstances, Kevin Bacon would never be able to walk through the shopping center without inciting a mob of fans demanding autographs and selfies. Equipped with the prosthetics, however, he was able to experience life on the other side… much to his chagrin.
According to Bacon’s Vanity Fair interview, he claims that the experience was a breath of fresh air at first, but quickly wore thin as he lost access to his usual perks.
A Huge Star
Kevin Bacon has starred in over 100 credited appearances dating back to the late 1970s, making him one of the most recognizable public figures in Hollywood today.
The star is so ubiquitous in pop culture, in fact, that he has become the center of the popular name-game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” which requires players to connect actors by shared screen time until reaching the titular Tremors star. Last year, he even capitalized on the popularity of the game, by launching a podcast series of the same title.
Recent Appearances
Though he made his big-screen debut decades ago, Kevin Bacon is arguably at the height of his popularity, as he starred in both Maxxxine and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which each premiered this past week. In between press for the two blockbusters, the actor was able to experience a day in the life of an average man as part of a social experiment.
Source: Vanity Fair
