Kevin Bacon is turning 57 years old this week. The guy has been acting since he was 17, so one would think that he’d have a long list of movie parts that slipped through his fingers, right? Not really, actually. That probably explains the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game because the guy has worked… a LOT.
Even with his long list of IMDb credits, there are still a few movies that Bacon decided just weren’t right for him. In celebration of his birthday, here are six movie roles that probably could have benefited from a side of Bacon.
Risky Business (1983)
Kevin Bacon was originally considered for an undisclosed part in this movie, but the Hollywood Gods decided it was never meant to be. Perhaps more interesting, though, is that after seeing Tom Cruise’s iconic underwear dance scene in the movie, producers wanted him to play the central role in Footloose that would go to Kevin Bacon.
Starman (1984)
Kevin Bacon and Jeff Bridges have each dipped their feet into the intergalactic pool of the sci-fi genre, and both we’re vying for the alien role in John Carpenter’s sci-fi romance. During casting of the movie, producers weren’t sure if they wanted a 20-something like Kevin Bacon or Tom Cruise, or an older actor. After actress Karen Allen was cast as the female lead, Bacon was tossed aside, and Bridges was brought in to play the part of Starman.
Ghost (1990)
Ghost screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin had Patrick Swayze in mind for the lead role all along, but director Jerry Zucker felt Swayze wasn’t the right man for the job. To appease Zucker, the casting director brought in Kevin Bacon, Dennis Quaid, and even Demi Moore’s husband Bruce Willis. Other actors were offered the role, but they felt playing a ghost would be “cheesy” and turned it down. Zucker eventually agreed to give Swayze a shot and was pleasantly surprised at the actor’s audition.
Indecent Proposal (1993)
Kevin Bacon had his chance to do pottery with Demi Moore in Ghost, but passed it up. He then took a part acting alongside Moore in 1992’s A Few Good Men. A year later, he was considered for Woody Harrelson’s role as Moore’s husband in Indecent Proposal, but said “no thanks.” Conclusion: Kevin Bacon believed he wouldn’t like Demi Moore in 1990, confirmed that in ’92, and vowed to never work with her again in ’93? Just a theory.
Being John Malkovich (1999)
This movie could have been a cakewalk for Kevin Bacon. All he had to do was play a fictionalized version of himself. The actor’s career was on a bit of a downward slope in the late ’90s, and this critically acclaimed indie movie should have been a no-brainer. Instead, Charlie Sheen agreed to play the part after it was re-written for a fictionalized, but still insane version of himself.
Footloose (the non-classic 2011 version)
Footloose is the movie that put Kevin Bacon on the map. So, naturally, when it came time for Hollywood to recycle the movie, producers wanted Bacon to make a cameo and give a little wink because, nostalgia. Filmmakers approached Bacon about playing Ren’s father, but Bacon wisely turned it down, citing that the part was “lousy,” and he didn’t see the point of the scene just so he could make a cameo.
