Sketch profiles for Kevin Bacon's quintessential characters. Click EasyEdit to update this page!
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Character name:
Ren McCormack
Appears in:
Footloose
Date:
1984
Award(s):
Oscar ~ Nominated
Best Music, Original Song
Kenny Loggins (music)
Dean Pitchford (lyric)
Golden Globe ~ Nominated
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
Kenny Loggins
People Weekly April 2, 1984
| | Character back story: Teenager Ren (Kevin Bacon) and his mother move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock. Though he tries hard to fit in, the streetwise Ren can't quite believe he's living in a place where rock music and dancing are illegal. There is one small pleasure, however: Ariel (Lori Singer), a troubled but lovely blonde with a jealous boyfriend. and a Bible-thumping minister, who is responsible for keeping the town dance-free. Ren and his classmates want to do away with this ordinance, especially since the senior prom is around the corner, but only Ren has the courage to initiate a battle to abolish the ban and revitalize the spirit of the repressed townspeople. | | Preparation for character: With the Principal's knowledge, 24-year-old Kevin Bacon attended the Payson Utah High School as "Ren McCormack", a transfer student from Phili to get into his role. With his narrow tie and new-wave haircut, he was treated pretty much like in the film. Bacon gratefully left the school with the location scouts on the afternoon of the first day. | | Age/Occupation: 17/High School Student | | Personality type: Rebellious | | Signature look: Spiked Haircut | | Resides: Bowmont, Oklahoma | Fun facts/trivia:
Footloose is based on the 1978 events in a small Oklahoma town where dancing had been banned for nearly 90 years until a group of high school teens challenged it.
Kevin Bacon broke out in hives around his midsection when he had to film the City Council scene where he makes the case for holding a prom dance. The actor says he is uncomfortable when speaking in public, but has never had a re-occurrence of hives.
Kevin Bacon was offered the leading role for the Stephen King movie Christine (1983), at the same time that he was asked to do a screen test for "Footloose". The producers had to convince Bacon that turning down a sure role in "Christine" for a part he might not even get in "Footloose" was the wiser choice. The producers told him that if he got the part for "Footloose," the role would make him a star. 30 seconds into the screen test, Bacon was offered the part.
The music tracks "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" by Deniece Williams both hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received 1985 Academy Award nomination for Best Music (Original Song). "Footloose" also received a 1985 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Original Song - Motion Picture. |
| | Character Quotes & Catchphrases | - Ren: Hey, hey! What's this I see? I thought this was a party. LET'S DANCE!
- Ren: You like Men At Work?
Willard: What men?
Ren: Men at work.
Willard: Well where do they work?
Ren: No, they're a music group.
Willard: Well what do they call themselves?
Ren: Oh no! What about the Police?
Willard: What about 'em?
Ren: You ever heard them?
Willard: No, but I seen them.
Ren: Where, in concert?
Willard: No, behind you.
- Willard: You won't get any dancing here, it's illegal.
Ren: Jump back!
- Chuck: I thought only pansies wore neckties.
Ren: See that? I thought only assholes used the word pansy.
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| Character name:
Wade
Appears in:
The River Wild
Date:
1994
Award(s):
Golden Globe
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Nominated
| Character back story: Wade is a criminal and compulsive liar with a boyish charm. He turns diabolic when he overtakes the raft of a former river guide, Gail (Meryl Streep) and her family on a white-water rafting trip. Wade initially flirts with Gail and then befriends her young son until it becomes apparent that he only wants her knowledge of the river to secure freedom for himself and his cohorts who are on the lam after a violent robbery.
Wade is eventually shot by Gail and his dead body floats off down the river. | | Age/Occupation: Criminal | | Personality type: Friendly and charming then turning psychotic and deadly. | | Signature look: | | Resides: On the run | Fun facts/trivia:
Many of the film's whitewater scenes were filmed on the Kootenai River In Montana. Additional scenes were filmed on the Rogue River, in Southern Oregon and the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. |
| | Character Quotes & Catchphrases | - Wade: We never had nicknames where I came from. Certainly not "White Water." White trash, maybe.
- Wade: I want to thank you, Tom. You saved my life.
Tom: Uh - don't worry about it.
Wade: You didn't have to hit me, though.
Tom: Yes I did.
- Roarke: I thought you were a nice guy.
Wade: I am a nice guy. Just a different kind of nice guy.
- Wade: I'm in charge now. I could bury you and Roarke tonight. I could do anything I want with you.
Gail: Then go ahead. Don't keep telling me how tough you are, Wade, just show me.
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Character name:
Henri Young
Appears in:
Murder in the First
Date:
1995
Award(s):
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
Best Actor ~ Win
Screen Actors Guild
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated
| | Character back story: Henri Young stole $5.00 from a U.S. Post Office to feed himself and his little sister, both of whom are destitute. He is apprehended by the store clerk, and his sister is sent to an orphanage. Henri was convicted of robbing a post office, which was a federal offense. He never sees his sister again and is sentenced to Leavenworth Penitentiary, Kansas. Young is later transferred to Alcatraz where he participates in a scheme to escape. The plot fails due to the betrayal of a fellow inmate, Rufus McCain, and Young is sent to solitary confinement, where he is left for three years (except 30 minutes at Christmas). During his long period in solitary confinement, Young slowly begins to lose his mind. Upon being released from solitary confinement, Henri experiences a psychotic episode in the cafeteria and attacks McCain, stabbing him to death with a spoon in full view of the prison staff and convict population. In a highly politicized and contentious trial, Henri is convicted only of the lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter, but later dies after returning to Alcatraz to serve his sentence. | | Preparation for character: To transform himself into Henri Young, Bacon lost 20 pounds, shaved his head, and wore contact lenses that completely concealed his eyes and had to be removed every hour. He spent some time in a jail cell to get the feeling of being imprisoned. | | Age/Occupation: 20's/Prisoner | | Personality type: Withdrawn | | Signature look: Frail/Pale | | Resides: Alcatraz Prison | Fun facts/trivia:
Inspired by a true story
The real Henry Young remained at Alcatraz until 1948, when he was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Missouri. When his Federal sentence expired in 1954, he was turned over to the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla to begin a life sentence for an earlier murder conviction. In 1972, Young was released from Washington State Penitentiary, but he jumped parole and, according to Washington State authorities, his whereabouts are unknown, therefore, Young might still be alive. |
| | Character Quotes & Catchphrases | - James Stamphill: Did you kill Rufus McCain?
Henri Young: I was the weapon, but I ain't no killer.
- James Stamphill: How do you think the Yankees will do against the Redskins this year?
Henri Young: The Yankees are a baseball team. The Redskins are a football team. Personally, I think the Redskins would kick the shit out of them.
- James Stamphill: I will ask you what I want to ask you.
Henri Young: And I answer what I want to answer.
James Stamphill: Fine.
Henri Young: Fine.
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Character name:
Sebastian Caine
Appears in:
Hollow Man
Date:
2000
Award(s):
Blockbuster Entertainment Award
Favorite Actor - Science Fiction
Won
MTV Movie Award
Best Villain
Nominated
| Character back story: Sebastian Caine, a scientist, discoveres a way to make matter invisible. Determined to achieve the ultimate breakthrough, Caine pushes his team to move to the next phase - using himself as the subject. The test is a success, but when the process can't
be reversed and Caine seems doomed to future without flesh, he begins to show some unexpected side effects of his extraordinary condition.
| Age/Occupation: Molecular Biologist
| | Personality type: Arrogant | Signature look: Invisible
| | Resides: Washington D.C. | Fun facts/trivia:
An anatomically correct, totally working computer model was created of Kevin Bacon's entire body - down to the last capillary. The 3D model has since been donated to scientific researchers.
During filming, Kevin Bacon wore skin-tight costumes in green, blue, grey or black, to assist with the adding of special effects. Some of his cast mates said that the hardest part of the role was not laughing at someone painted in black, green, blue or grey, pretending to be mean.
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| | Character Quotes & Catchphrases | - Frank: [over intercom] This is God. You are disturbing the natural order of things, and will be severely punished for all eternity. God has spoken.
Sebastian: How many times I have to tell you, Frank? You're not God. I am.
- Sebastian: You know what, Matt? It's amazing what you can do... when you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror any more.
- Sebastian: You don't make history by following the rules, you make it by seizing the moment.
- Linda: You cracked the code! 11 months, and you suddenly come up with it out of the blue. How?
Sebastian: The usual: coffee and Twinkies.
- Janice: So, what's it like being a ghost?
Sebastian: Ghosts are dead. I'm very much alive.
- Matt: Any last words?
Sebastian: Yeah. If I die, pretend I said something deep and clever.
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