Kevin Bacon disguised himself as a regular person for a day: ‘I had to wait in line – it sucks’

The ‘Footloose’ star said he’d been daydreaming about walking through life as a non-celebrity

Kevin Bacon has revealed that he recently donned a disguise in order to experience life as a regular person, but soon concluded: “This sucks.”

The Footloose star, 65, is currently starring alongside Eddie Murphy in action comedy Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, and opposite Mia Goth in horror sequel Maxxxine.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Bacon explained that he went to great lengths in order to live out his fantasy of being a non-celebrity. “I’m not complaining, but I have a face that’s pretty recognisable,” he said. “Putting my hat and glasses on is only going to work to a certain extent.”

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

The actor was given fake teeth, a new nose, and glasses before heading off to the busy Los Angeles mall The Grove for a taste of ordinary life.

Bacon says the disguise worked as “nobody recognised” him, but the experience left much to be desired.

“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,” he said.

Kevin Bacon at the LA premiere of ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ in June 2024 (Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

Earlier this week, Bacon explained why he believes he was a bad leading actor “for a lot of years”.

After Footloose shot him to stardom in 1984, the actor said he struggled to live up to the expectations placed on him. He told The Guardian: “Yeah, there was a lot of pressure in it when it finally happened. I’m not sure that I was really ready.”

After Footloose, the actor rounded out the 1980s with roles in films, which either received negative reviews or tanked at the box office: Quicksilver, White Water Summer, End of the Line, She’s Having a Baby, Criminal Law, and The Big Picture.

“I continued doing leads for a lot of years, but I wasn’t really doing it very well,”Bacon added. “I was doing it OK. But the movies weren’t successful. My picker was off. Like, I couldn’t choose! I didn’t want anybody’s advice. I was making some bad mistakes.”

Bacon soon recalibrated his approach, and realised after years of being concerned about the hierarchy of on-set power, he was OK not being the lead star.

LA Premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" (2024 Invision)

It wasn’t until 1990 that Bacon turned things around, starring in Tremors and Flatliners, before delivering memorable supporting roles in JFK, A Few Good Men, The River Wild, Apollo 13, and Sleepers.

“When I kind of rethought it, and rethought about the possibility of being number 10 on a call sheet, or number two, or number 25, or whatever – that’s when I figured out who I was as an actor,” the actor said, adding: “So I no longer have a problem doing a small part.”

He continued: “As long as I feel like it’s a good part, an interesting part, something cool, I got no problem moving down a call-sheet.”

Bacon, who has been married to actor Kyra Sedgwick for 35 years, is also a musician. As part of The Bacon Brothers, which he formed alongside his brother Michael in 1995, the actor has released seven albums.