Written by Isabella Halteman. Photo by Ashton Melton.
After the 2023 SCAD Film Festival kicked off this past weekend, actor Kevin Bacon graced the Performing Arts majors at SCAD with his knowledge and enthusiasm during his masterclass at Hamilton Hall. He started by commenting on the fabulous SCAD sitcom stage, where his class was held, and talked briefly about how sitcoms are an art that he could never tackle fully. Bacon also brought up the SAG-AFTRA strike and said how great it has been to have a creative outlet during this time. But he emphasized, “Acting is my bread and butter and my first priority.”
Bacon cited two movies that he saw at his hometown Philadelphia theater, John Schlesinger’s “Midnight Cowboy” and Mike Nichols’ “The Graduate,” and how they shaped his acting career. Both starred a very young Dustin Hoffman, his performances inspired Bacon to see the possibilities of a well-rounded career. From there, he dove into acting classes with the encouragement of his mother and knew he was destined for fame.
Sharing stories of his early audition days and how driven and hungry actors must be to drag themselves through it every day, he emphasized how young actors must take risks but trust their gut when making decisions regarding their careers. Bacon was asked about how he has dealt with difficult roles in his career and in response, he said he enjoys difficult roles because he loves a challenge and he wouldn’t trade any of his roles for comfort.
At the end of Bacon’s class, he was asked to give advice to the young actors in the room. To this, Bacon said that when he was college-aged, he wouldn’t have taken advice from anyone. Bacon assumed that he already had all the knowledge he needed to succeed, but then said, “People have things to offer. Leave yourself open to learning any chance you get.”
Just three hours later, festival guests took their seats in Trustees Theater for the “In Conversation with Kevin Bacon” to soak up more of his wealth of knowledge and charm. While Bacon told some of the same stories and advice we heard at his masterclass, he also spoke on the infamous “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” phenomenon and his experience with working on projects with his wife.
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a game that tries to connect any actor with Kevin Bacon in six connections or less. The running joke refers to Bacon’s long list of projects and associations with other actors. However, Bacon was never a fan because of this joke he didn’t appreciate his career being made a game. But, in recent years, he has since taken the concept and made a foundation committed to helping communities through connection and the belief that we are all connected. Most recently, Bacon started a podcast called “Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon.” In this podcast, he sits down with people who are passionate about making changes in the world.
Bacon was recently in a movie directed by his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, called “Space Oddity,” a sci-fi romance. When asked about the experience, Bacon said he and his wife never looked for projects to work on together, but this one just happened to work out. Translating their private relationship into a professional one was very successful, and he admires Sedgwick’s determination and he enjoys working under her.
Bacon’s confidence inspires the people around him to stride towards their best work and their best selves. Everyone who had the privilege of hearing him speak left with valuable advice to live by.
Isabella Halteman is a sophomore Performing Arts major with minors in Creative Writing and Vocal Performance. She is a Copy Editor for District, editing and publishing articles on our website. She also enjoys writing poetry and creative personal essays. Outside of school, you can find her singing in her car, baking and cooking, and watching old movies.
