20150419

SHE'S HAVING A BABY

In 1988, Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern starred in the John Hughes' movie, 'She's Having A Baby'. Of the movie, Kevin observed, "Old-fashioned is new-fashioned, let's face it." Kevin played Jake, "This is a character who takes a lot of plunges. He plunges into marriage, he plunges into a job, he plunges into a mortgage and ultimately at the end of the film plunges into fatherhood. He's worried and concerned about those things. Part of what the movie is saying is, 'It's OK fellows to be concerned and worried and have these kinds of emotions. Because if you find the right person, it will become clear to you that this is the most important thing that could happen to you. This is more important than jobs, in-laws, money. To find someone you can spend your life with: this is a great thing.'" 

Elizabeth's character Kristy was "very strong, although she doesn’t necessarily appear on the surface to be strong. She's a person you wouldn't ever think twice about. The door opens on her soul and you see how much there is she has to offer." Kevin described the making of 'She's Having A Baby', "As strong and independent as I come off on the set, I need a director who will say, 'OK, that's good, you got it.'" Of the childbirth scene, "By that point I'd been playing this character so many times and in so many different situations that I really felt that I knew him and John knew him...And he (John) just kind of said, 'We'll turn the camera on and you just hang out in the room and do what you would do (meaning improvise)." John Hughes was known for his "anthropologist's eye for detail and ear for language and music." 

Kevin also made the comment, "If I have any criticism of John Hughes, it's that he should be a little flexible. He is incredibly unprotective of his work. I come from the old school of the theater, where you never ever change a lick of the play; it's sacrilege. The cinema being such an intimate medium, we want to be as comfortable and as real with the language as possible...John likes actors, and he likes the input they can give. Sometimes you take off and get so far from the material that it almost gets out of hand." 

Kevin was 12 (in 1970) when he took his first acting class. By 17 (in 1975), he moved to New York, "I think by the time (parents) get to the 6th kid, they're less afraid and more willing to give their child independence. I was living alone in an apartment, roaches on the wall, working as a waiter, the whole bit. It was a rude awakening. I spent the money in a week, and I had to start waiting tables again. I did that for about 4 years (to say 1978). I think I paid my dues (at 30 in 1988). Have I struggled? I don't know. We all have different kinds of struggle. I was happy for every little bone that was thrown to me. Any tiny little part meant so much to me. Although in the back of my mind I was probably shooting for movie stardom, little things would really satisfy me." 

Of the 1984 movie, 'Footloose', Kevin told Bob Thomas of the Associated Press, "I went kicking and screaming into the limelight. It was a teen-oriented film, and I fought so hard not to be a teen idol. I considered myself a serious New York actor, and I wanted to do Chekhov (*) for the rest of my career. The film was the No. 1 pop hit, and every little girl would have me on her wall. That was the last thing in the world I wanted. I fought to stay off the magazines and out of the papers." 

(*) Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright 

Kevin continued, "I've sort of gained a perspective on that (by 1988). I love being in magazines. I guess it's a kind of process of growing up, leveling off and getting used to having a movie career – as used to it as you will ever get." Of the 1986 movie, 'Quicksilver', he mentioned, "I felt the icy winds of Hollywood blowing through my veins. Yes, I felt it. People told me I was crazy. But if you were to ask my agents – well, they felt it too."

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