When Kevin Bacon went undercover as a high school student: “A terrifying day”
Kevin Bacon is known for a myriad of eclectic performances and projects, with roles that span from romantic comedies to horrors and coming-of-age dramas. Whether it be the eternal hatred that audiences feel for David Lindhagen in Crazy, Stupid Love, the cult status of Friday the 13th or Mystic River, the actor has been critically acclaimed for his vast range of performances and versatility, becoming equally known for his supporting and leading roles.
However, perhaps what is most impressive about his filmography is his ability to adapt to different skills and take on roles that most people would be intimidated by, such as his 2004 film The Woodsman, in which he plays a convicted paedophile struggling to reintegrate into society. As a result, he has forged a reputation for being unintimidated by challenge, something that took him to new places while preparing for one of his most iconic roles.
Many actors have sparked controversy and conversation for their strange methods of getting into character, with the likes of Jared Leto and Dustin Hoffman being somewhat ridiculed for their extensive (and seemingly unnecessary) ways of preparing for a shoot. But while this has led some to do bizarre and completely unwarranted things, such as mailing dead rats to co-stars and slapping women in the face, Bacon tried another method before reprising the iconic role of Ren in Footloose.
Directed by Herbert Ross in 1984, Footloose follows a teenage boy as he moves to a small American town and is shocked to be living in a place where music and dancing are illegal. Starring Bacon, John Lithgow and Lori Singer, it instantly became a cult classic, inspiring generations of angsty teenagers in their ‘stick it to the man’ defiance and sense of rhythm.
However, while this required a new skillset from Bacon in that he had to dance and become fluent with his feet, he also had to tap into the mindset of teenagers, leading him to a local high school to immerse himself in the culture of the age group he would be portraying.
When discussing this, Bacon said, “Footloose was the one. It was life-changing. I was about 23 or 24. I was afraid that I wasn’t going to be able to pull off playing a 17-year-old, so I asked the production to secretly enroll me in the high school and I went in as a transfer student”.
Bacon expanded on this surprising revelation, revealing that he became a student again: “Just one day,” he said. “I spent the day as this character, Ren. I made him from Philadelphia since that’s where I was from. My character in the movie was from Chicago, but I was afraid somebody was going to go, ‘Oh, I’m from Chicago. Where did you grow up?’ Honestly, it was kind of a terrifying day, being this city kid, coming to this rural place and being tossed into this huge high school… I took classes, and there were girls whispering about me, and there were some guys trying to get tough with me”.
This approach has also been used in more recent productions, with Tom Holland describing a similar experience when sneaking into an American high school to prepare for his role as Spider Man. While it is certainly a great way of inserting authenticity into your performance, perhaps the experience of going back to school is not one that many would gladly embrace.
