Since his meteoric rise to fame in the 1984 movie “Footloose,” fans have known actor Kevin Bacon as, well, Kevin Bacon.
Not any more.
The veteran star of film and television has decided to turn over a new leaf — or legume if you will — by changing his last name from Bacon to Bean.
“I just thought it seemed like such a funny idea,” Bacon tells TODAY.com during a Zoom interview. And that’s exactly what the tongue-in-cheek switcheroo is all about.
Bacon is teaming up with Humane World for Animals (formerly called the Humane Society of the United States) for “Beansday,” a new campaign encouraging people to swap out meat for beans on Wednesdays. “It can have an impact on animal’s lives, on the environment, on your pocketbook,” Bacon says of the push.
In support of the launch, the “Tremors” star is temporarily changing his last name from Bacon to Bean and donning a suit made entirely of the legumes in a new PSA for the campaign.
“I love animals. I thought it was a clever and funny idea; anything that can kind of shake up our everyday approach to food and eating animals is just an interesting kind of twist.”
The cute play on his last name is intended to raise awareness around food choices and encourage people to embrace more plant-based options for the sake of both animals and the planet.
Bacon, who lives on a 40-acre farm with wife, Kyra Sedgwick, knows a little something about animals given he’s raising a bunch of them, including horses, goats, pigs, cows and chickens.
“It’s like that connection that you have to just go and spend a little time with a horse or a goat or a pig. I love the pigs, I’m crazy about them,” says Bacon. “I find it therapeutic and calming.”
Bacon fans are likely familiar with his Instagram posts, in which he can regularly be found singing songs to his four-legged friends, often joined by Sedgwick and their two adult children, Travis, 36, and Sosie, 34.
“When I get out to sing to the goats or the pigs or whatever, a lot of times what you’re seeing is, like, Take 30,” he explains, saying that the animals don’t always cooperate, especially if he’s in the middle of composing a song.
“I’ll have the selfie stick, and the phone, and the lyrics … and the goats, right at the moment when I think I’m done, will grab the lyrics and eat them because they love paper,” says Bacon.
But that’s to be expected, right?
“There’s a lot of stuff that they don’t eat,” he says. “Someone has told me goats eat everything, but they don’t. Pigs eat everything. But goats, they’re a little more picky.”
Even so, they apparently have an appetite for paper. “Especially if I’ve written something on it that I have to try to remember,” Bacon says laughing.
Along with their penchant for song lyrics, the goats also have a habit of crashing his shoots.
“There’s been plenty of times when I’ve been right towards the end of the song and the goat will just turn around and poop,” says Bacon. “When goats poop, it’s like a rainstorm of pellets. It’s funny, but probably not what people want to see.”
Given his “new” last name and all, Bacon is likely to field some questions about the moniker change. Fortunately, he’s used it.
“Some people have actually asked me if I’ve changed my name to ‘Bacon.’ I think to myself, ‘Well, what kind of lunatic would want to suffer a lifetime of food jokes?’’ he asks.
While changing his last name, for real, hasn’t crossed his mind, his first name is a different story. “I don’t mind the name ‘Bacon,’ but I don’t like the name ‘Kevin.’ I’ve never liked that name,” he says.
“What I find – and this could completely be my imagination – but what I see in movies and television, is that whenever there’s someone annoying or just kind of a s—-y personality, or a kid who’s a pain in the a–, they always name him ‘Kevin,’” he says.
“Someone actually told me that in certain parts of the UK, they use it as an insult. Like, ‘He’s a Kevin.’”
Fortunately, Bacon has found a workaround.
“What’s weird about it is that I don’t mind the name ‘Kev.’ To me that’s a nice sounding name,” he says.
“But, of course, then there’s that funny thing where you feel like you’ve been ‘Kev-d’ quickly. Now, I’ve given that up. I’m like, ‘If you want to ‘Kev’ me right from the beginning, I’m totally fine with that.’”
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