Six Degrees of Word Association With Kevin Bacon

Photo Credit: Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Playboy

Anybody who hasn’t lived under a rock has heard of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” a parlor game based on the “six degrees of separation” concept that any two people on Earth are six degrees apart. Kevin Bacon, of course, is the man behind the game—a man who is, quite literally, connected to everyone in Hollywood by six degrees or less. The 56-year-old actor even created SixDegrees.org, a philanthropic organization that he founded to “accomplish something good” utilizing the idea of connectivity—”social networking with a social conscience.” In honor of the March 2, season 3 premiere of his hit Fox series, The Following, we decided to play a little word association game of our own with Bacon based on his past films and former co-stars to truly test his six degrees connectivity. Here are the results!

FOOTLOOSE (1984)

Life-changing.

JENNIFER ANISTON (PICTURE PERFECT CO-STAR, 1997) 

So sweet and warm. [When we worked together] she had already been on Friends. It was very clear that she was going to have a really long and important career.

JOHN HUGHES (DIRECTOR OF SHE’S HAVING A BABY, 1988) 

Brilliant and complicated; probably moreso than any other director. I was channeling him in that role; I was being John.

LEMON SKY (1988) 

That’s where I met the love of my life [wife Kyra Sedgewick], so I’ve got nothing but good feelings about that one.

HE SAID, SHE SAID (1991) 

I don’t remember it.

OLIVER STONE (DIRECTOR OF JFK, 1991) 

Unpredictable. I know I said that Footloose was life changing, but if I could pick one that really changed my life for me, it was that film, JFK.

TOM CRUISE OR TOM HANKS (CO-STARS IN A FEW GOOD MEN, 1992 AND APOLLO 13, 1995) 

Thrilled to have gotten to work with both of them; crazy about both of them. A lot of fond memories of both guys.

CLINT EASTWOOD (DIRECTOR OF MYSTIC RIVER, 2003) 

The best.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE OR EMMA STONE (CO-STARS IN X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, 2011 AND CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE, 2011) 

The energy that was coming from not just Jennifer, but all of those young people who were in X-Men—Zoe [Kravitz] and Nicolas [Hoult]—it was infectious, an infectious energy. Being on set with them really made me feel like a kid again. And she was really leading the charge, Jennifer.

To read more of our interview with Kevin, you’ll have to pick up the upcoming March/April issue of Haute Living Los Angeles!