Kevin Bacon Wore A Disguise And Hated That Nobody Recognized Him

Celebrities go to great lengths to avoid being bothered by civilians. Famous people want to live their lives just like the rest of us, just not with the rest of us. Barbra Streisand had an entire shopping center constructed under her home so she could go to stores without being harassed by normies. Dressing up as famous characters at comic cons to hide among the fans has become a regular practice for actors stepping into big superhero roles. These people crave some anonymity… until they don’t.

Kevin Bacon is having a huge week. He appears in two films, MaXXXine and Beverly Kills Cop: Axel F. Both are highly anticipated and keep the actor’s already considerable profile on the rise. Bacon has an impressive career spanning five decades and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. There is a game based solely on how easy it is to connect him to other actors given his extensive body of work. He is as recognizable a star as they come, even if he isn’t the hot star he once was.

Bacon recently sat down with Vanity Fair for a fun conversation about his career. He talked about how he used to daydream about being able to walk around without being noticed. “I’m not complaining, but I have a face that’s pretty recognizable,” the actor explained, acknowledging that he does try to cover up a little. However, “Putting my hat and glasses on is only going to work to a certain extent.” So, the actor hatched a plan to walk among the people of the world.

The Hollow Man star leaned on his Hollywood resources to enact his plan. “I went to a special effects makeup artist, had consultations, and asked him to make me a prosthetic disguise,” he told Vanity Fair. Bacon put on fake teeth and a fake nose. He rocked some funky glasses. Like a real-life Clark Kent, he blended in with the citizens of Earth without raising so much as a red flag. He got exactly what he wanted, and he hated it.

“Nobody recognized me,” Bacon told the folks at the Fair. He managed to achieve his goal, and it could not have appealed to him any less. “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**king coffee or whatever. I was like, This sucks. I want to go back to being famous.” While Kevin’s response certainly has a tongue-in-cheek nature, I appreciate his honesty. If I walked through life for almost half a century with people doting on me for my handsomeness and talent, I wouldn’t want to give that up, either.