…I think there are films that go by that have an extreme kind of violence, violence that we’ve never seen before. And also, sexuality that’s sometimes done in a different way, but very, very sexual films that just don’t happen to have nudity or the sex is all heterosexual sex. Like I said, I’m confused about the rating. I don’t really get it. I think once it came down though, I don’t think there was any chance they were going to overturn it. It’s unfortunate because it limits theaters and limits newspapers that run ads and stuff like that. And it also puts me in the position where all I’m talking about is sex and the movie to me is not a sex movie.”
Kevin Bacon on Preparing Physically for “Where the Truth Lies:” Bacon laughingly claims it was a butt-related website that got his rear in shape for its close-ups. Besides his naked rear, we do see a lot of Mr Bacon in the film. So how does he really stay in shape? Bacon said, “I just try to take care of myself, work out and eat right. I feel like it’s also a question of trying to make the body, as much as you can, true to the character.
If you look at my physique, for instance, in ‘The Woodsman,’ it’s a very different kind of thing in the way the guy moves and stands and holds himself. I had a different routine and stuff. Lanny has a very active, dancing, tightly wound energy and I think that kind of affects the body type.”
Kevin Bacon’s Inspiration for His “Where the Truth Lies” Character: “I looked at a lot of people. Certainly the comedy duo clowns: Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, the Smothers Brothers were very influential. Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. These were all sort of the similar kind of setup. Oddly enough, it doesn’t really exist anymore. You don’t really have these comedy duos anymore. It was kind of started back in vaudeville and went through up until the ‘60s and then just kind of ended. All those acts were equally as important as Martin and Lewis.
I also looked a lot at just the rat pack in general, and that kind of feeling that we were watching them hang out and drink and smoke and make jokes. Sammy and Peter Lawford, Frank… That whole thing was very specific to that time. It’s not really happening anymore.”
Kevin Bacon’s Singing Voice: “Well, musically, first off, Colin [Firth’s] character was the singer originally in the act. Atom [Egoyan, writer/director] just decided that it would be more interesting if he was more of the straight guy and I was a little bit more of the show-offy kind of thing. We started to move the songs, although we do some kind of duet, kind of spoken duet, but he gave me more of the singing duties.
At first I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to have to do that crooner kind of big band singing style,’ which would have been fun and interesting to try to sing that way. It’s not really my style. But he then turned me on to Louis Prima, who I really didn’t know his music really at all. He’s the voice of a bear in ‘The Jungle Book,’ the Disney movie, and that was the only way I knew his stuff. But the cool thing about Louis Prima was that it was big band, swing kind of music but he had almost like a rock kind of feel. Very rock based kind of soulful. I think maybe he’s from New Orleans or something like that, a singer, and when I heard him, that was the biggest influence on me on the voice, the singing style.”
Kevin Bacon on His Initial Attraction to “Where the Truth Lies:” “Well, you know, I thought Atom’s a very interesting filmmaker, auteur kind of. I knew he would have a fascinating take on a genre film, a murder mystery. And I had done ‘Mystic River’ and ‘The Woodsman’ and they were both very internalized kinds of characters. Characters who hold an awful lot inside. I thought it might be kind of cool to go back and do something kind of external and showy. I also have rarely played an entertainer. Certainly I’ve rarely played a celebrity. So to tap into those two parts of my own personality seemed like it might be kind of interesting.”
PAGE 2: Kevin Bacon on Celebrity, Colin Firth, and What Challenges Him at This Point in His Career
