What You Need To Know About Kevin Bacon's Daughter
Sosie Bacon is the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, and for a long time, it didn't seem like she had the slightest bit of interest in following in her parents' footsteps. While she dabbled in acting for a bit, her career really started to take off in 2016 when she appeared in several television series and a couple of movies. The year 2017 is turning into an even bigger year for her, with her appearances in series like 13 Reasons Why and Here, Now, along with big screen and TV movies. Clearly, she's found her calling, so what do you need to know about this rising star?
She's going against her parents' wishes by acting
All parents want what's best for their children, and the Bacon family absolutely didn't want her to become an actress. Kevin Bacon spoke with The Telegraph in 2013, and took a candid look at the ups and downs of his own career.
It wasn't all success, and he spoke about the slump that came after Footloose, and his very emotional — and public — breakdown that came when he accepted a role in Tremors. That's allowed him to experience both sides of Hollywood, and when he was asked about whether or not he would want his children to follow in his footsteps, he said that his daughter had only recently decided that she wanted to act... in spite of both of her parents advising against it. "You're only as happy as your least happy child," he says. "We were only thinking about the struggle. And you want your children to live a life with as little struggle as possible. You never want bad things to happen. But of course, that's just not possible."
Sosie starred in a few episodes of The Closer with her mother, but when Kyra Sedgwick spoke with Screener, she made it clear that she didn't want to see her daughter acting, either. Sosie got the role when executive producer James Duff bypassed Sedgwick entirely to offer the part to her daughter, after being stonewalled by The Closer star. Duff reportedly wanted to cast Sosie since she was 12, and after five years went by and her mother was still hesitant, he went right to the source. How much conflict that caused isn't clear, but Sedgwick later said, "Honestly, I really just want them to be happy. It is difficult being in this business, knowing how hard it is even when you're successful. The hurt, the rejection, the insecurity of thinking you're never going to work again... I don't want that for my kids."
She was directed by her father in her acting debut, and co-starred with her mother
Sosie made her acting debut in a film called Loverboy, and the independent film was truly a family affair. Directed by her father and starring her mother, it's the story of the consequences of a childhood of neglect, and how that shapes someone even into adulthood. Sedgwick played the main character, and Sosie played her as a 10-year-old girl. According to Contact Music, Sosie's casting came out of a bit of necessity, and both her parents weren't necessarily thrilled with the idea, and hoped that it would convince her that acting wasn't for her.
"Actually, putting her in the movie was the best antidote for any interest she had in becoming an actress because she was absolutely exhausted," Sedgwick told them. "She's wonderful in the film. She's got a very small part, playing me as a little girl. By the end of the fifth day she said, 'I think I got the whole acting thing out of my system!'"
The role might have been small, but it was some pretty dark stuff. When Kevin Bacon talked to MovieWeb, he made it clear that it was just as difficult for him as it was for her. "It's weird to have your kids go to a darker, emotional place. It's something we vowed we would never do. They never showed any interest in it anyway." Unfortunately for Sosie's parents, her acting debut seemed to have the exact opposite effect that they had been hoping for.
She originally didn't want to act at all
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick insisting that their daughter wasn't going to fall into acting wasn't just a bit of wishful thinking from parents wanting the best for their children, and in 2014 she spoke to Parade about her resistance to joining the family business.
"[...] I'd been acting since I was little, but I always had this idea that I wanted to do something else," she said. "I was sort of a little bit resistant to it — almost in a typical teenage rebellious way. And then, once I actually started doing it, I realized that it's just what I love, and the transition has been good and I just feel like now I know exactly what I want to be doing for the rest of my life, so it's really nice."
She also talked a bit about her role models, those people who are already immersed in the industry who she wants to be like — and given how many people are in her family's circle, there's no shortage of choices. According to her, though, she really looks up to Claire Danes and Lena Dunham in particular, and that the latter especially "really speaks to girls at this age and our world in a very real way." She also cites Brie Larson as a major influence, and says that she admires the writing that goes into a successful project as much as the acting.
She was Miss Golden Globe 2014
Every year, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association chooses someone to be Miss or Mister Golden Globe, and most of the time, it's someone who has at least one parent who is a well-known star. In 2014, it was Sosie Bacon, and she became one more in a line of young Hollywood elite that would be assisting on-stage with the awards ceremony. Sosie's official statement (via The Hollywood Reporter) was pretty by-the-book, and it wasn't until she spoke with Parade that she gave a little bit of insight into what the honor was going to take to prepare for, and what it meant.
"Everyone thinks it's really funny," she said when asked what those who knew her best thought about the honor. "That's the reaction I've mostly gotten. They're obviously excited for me, but I'm such, like, a dork... they all just think it's hilarious that I'm going to be standing up there in a gown, handing awards to people. And they're just excited to watch it, and they'll probably make fun of me a little."
She also says that while she's friends with some of the previous honorees — like Sam Fox, son of Michael J. Fox — she didn't get too much advice... only from her mother, who kept telling her to stand up straight.
She's not good at heels, make-up, and other industry standards
She also told Parade that a lot of her preparation for the 2014 Golden Globes was walking around in heels, saying, "That's the only thing I'm really doing right now because I'm not used to it. I'm terrible at it. I'm terrified to actually stand up there for three hours in high heels [...]."
And that makes her completely relatable to everyone who doesn't need to be prepared to be in the eye of the paparazzi every single day. While most of Hollywood's biggest players seem to have been born with it, Sosie wasn't shy about admitting to People that she was going to need a little extra help for the big day. "I don't think [my mom] taught me any makeup tips," she told them. "We're not good at doing our own makeup. We never have been, either of us. [...] I didn't expect to love the blue eyeliner — I barely wear any makeup, ever, so it was cool to try something new."
She had a stylist on hand to help her put together her look, and that meant going through a whole series of options to try to figure out not only what was going to work for her, but what would make her the most comfortable. Throughout the process, she talked about how she's absolutely not used to the fuss, that she never diets, always just eats what she wants and, in another interview with People, she also noted that she's having to break the bad habit of biting her nails. "I never care about my nails," she said. "I never do anything with them, and I love nail art, and I always look it up on Instagram. It's embarrassing." Embarrassing, or super relatable?
She sometimes sings with her father's band
Sosie Bacon is a rising star on the big and small screen, but acting isn't her only talent. She's also an accomplished singer, and she's comfortable enough with the idea of live performing that she's been known to appear on stage alongside her father.
And, just like her acting career, music is also something of a family affair. The band that she's been seen performing with is The Bacon Brothers, featuring her father and her uncle, the elder Michael Bacon. Along with backing members Paul Guzzone, Joe Mennonna, Ira Siegel, and Frank Vilardi, the band has been around for decades, released seven albums, and performed in venues across the country. Whether or not Sosie decides to follow that particular part of the family tradition remains to be seen, but regardless, she still has the respect of her proud father.
"I'm actually sort of astounded at how easily she has slipped into this," he told MTV in 2014 when they asked about her blossoming stardom. "The last couple of days, she's been up at the crack of dawn and going around and doing interviews. She not only enjoys it, but she's really comfortable in it. I don't really know how you get that. I know I wasn't that way when I started doing interviews and I don't know if Kyra was either, but [Sosie] seems to take to it pretty easily."
She's already starred in a musical
Sosie's addition to the cast of the musical Fiction in Photographs was announced on the creators' Kickstarter page, where they were campaigning for the funds to take the show from a sold-out, six-week run at CAP21 and a sold out performance at Tribeca's 92Y to even more performances. Along with Sosie, the cast included Cole Burden from Les Miserables and Adam Halpin from Rent, and it told the story of five people who found photographs of their lives were on display in an art gallery in Brooklyn.
The musical ran for three performances on the New World Stage in October 2012, before Sosie had definitely set her sights on acting. At the time, she was attending Brown University, and as the newcomer, her bio on Broadway World was incredibly short. That, however, has completely changed in the following years.
She's close to her mother, too
In spite of her following a career path that neither of her parents really wanted for her, Sosie is close to both of them. In addition to joining her father's musical endeavors, she's close to her mom, too. Redbook talked to Sedgwick about her changing career and the difficulties they faced in raising a family around long days and lots of travel, and she spoke candidly about the impact that it had on her relationship with both Sosie and her brother.
"It became more special when we were together," she said. "I never had that total nightmare with my kids where they wouldn't talk to me or they were mean to me. Maybe they appreciated me more because I wasn't around all the time? And I wasn't in their business every freaking second — because I am controlling, for sure. Sosie said to me the other day, 'Mom, you worry so much.' I was like, 'Does it show?'"
She also told Digital Journal that her kids were a huge factor in her decision to call it quits with The Closer, which took between six and nine months to film. That left a few precious weeks and some holidays each year to spend with her family, and missing some of the biggest moments of her kids' lives made her think twice about doing another season. When Sosie appeared on the show as Sedgwick's niece, it all became that much clearer that what was really important was her family. It's no wonder Sosie has chosen to follow in her parents' footsteps, and there's no doubt about whether or not she'll make them proud.