I think it would be pretty freaky to have a cultish game named after you, but Kevin Bacon does. Most of you would have played it at one time. I just read this story on his take on it all, reposted here to save you clicking a link!
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How my life became a game
Most people will, at some point, have played "six degrees of Kevin Bacon", the game that challenges you to link the prolific film star to any other in five steps. But Bacon's own thoughts on the game will finally be published next month in a new book. We reprint his afterword below Monday September 12, 2005
I first heard about the game many years ago. In fact, I remember thinking: "This won't last, it will fade like Hula Hoops and Pet Rocks." I remember kids coming up to me and telling me they were hung over from having played it in a bar the night before - you know, take a shot of whatever for every degree of separation. I thought I would be accused of contributing to rampant alcoholism sweeping America's campuses.
Then there was the urban legend crowd. "Dude, a friend of mine's cousin made up a game about you." The internet was exploding and the game spread like wildfire until I was asked to appear on The Jon Stewart Show in 1994 with the creators of the game, three kids from Albright College. At this point I was irritated by the idea. I felt as if I was the brunt of some massive joke at my expense: "Can you believe this loser can be connected to Marlon Brando and Katharine Hepburn?"
But through the years I have learned to tolerate and sometimes embrace the idea. People have asked me if I consider it an honour. Well, all it indicates is that I've been in a lot of movies with a lot of people. And besides that there are plenty of other actors that would work. Six degrees of Kevin Spacey or Kline. But the thing that I've grown to appreciate is that it's just a concept. It's not a thing. You can't buy it or sell it or own it. No one is getting rich off it (much to my dismay). You can't put it on your mantel or bequeath it to your offspring. It just is. And if we take me out of the equation, it is a beautiful concept. If we could remember that every one of us on this planet is connected through six degrees of separation, that we all climbed out of the same swamp, maybe we wouldn't be so quick to rush to war or to turn our backs on our brothers in need.
Do I play? Honestly, no, but as a thank-you to Andy (and using only actors involved in the "degrees" project) I will "six degrees" myself with Sir Alan Bates who wrote the foreword to this book. Here goes: I (Kevin Bacon) was in Flatliners with Julia Roberts, who was in Closer with Jude Law, who was in The Talented Mr Ripley with Gwyneth Paltrow, who was in Seven with Morgan Freeman, who was in The Sum of all Fears with Sir Alan Bates!
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