"I was like, this sucks": Kevin Bacon tried living as a regular guy for a day

The "Footloose" star used prosthetics and makeup to blend in and wasn't impressed by how we normies live our lives

By Griffin Eckstein

News Fellow

Published July 5, 2024 7:37PM (EDT)

US actor Kevin Bacon attends the world premiere of A24's "MaXXXine" at the TCL Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California, June 24, 2024. (ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)
US actor Kevin Bacon attends the world premiere of A24's "MaXXXine" at the TCL Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California, June 24, 2024. (ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

Kevin Bacon hasn't always been famous, but it's been quite a while since he could pass as an "average Joe."

Curious to see what it would be like to spend a day as part of the general public, he recently disguised his appearance in an effort to walk amongst us undetected, but his attempt to fit in wasn’t as fun as he thought it would be.

“I’m not complaining, but I have a face that’s pretty recognizable,” Bacon told Vanity Fair. “Putting my hat and glasses on is only going to work to a certain extent.”

The “Footloose” star used some Hollywood magic to make his social experiment work, enlisting professional help to disguise himself in fake teeth, a false nose, and glasses. And his efforts were successful. Maybe too successful.

“I went to a special effects makeup artist, had consultations, and asked him to make me a prosthetic disguise,” he said.

The Golden Globe winner, who appears in the Eddie Murphy-headed comedy “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F," embarked on one of L.A.’s most crowded and tourist-filled spots, The Grove shopping mall, quickly realizing that nobody recognized him.

“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*****g coffee or whatever,” Bacon recalled. “I was like, this sucks. I want to go back to being famous.”

Bacon, who starred in his wife Kyra Sedgwick’s directorial debut, "Space Oddity," went back to stardom last week, walking the Red Carpet for the recently-released A24 film “MaXXXine."


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