Kevin Bacon

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

“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.”

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

“I didn’t get into this so I could talk about my work, my movies.  You become an actor to act.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Ninety-five percent of celebrity is good.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“I’d always tried not to worry about the size of the role or the size of the film.”

“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.”

“I’m obsessed with zombies.  I like watching zombie movies and I read zombie books.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“Clint Eastwood has always been a hero.”

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

“I do better on the first three takes; I won’t be better at 20 takes.”

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

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

“I have a natural swagger.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“L.A.  kind of scares me.”

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