Kevin Bacon’s #IStayHomeFor Challenge Is the Six Degrees of Positivity We Need Right Now
With the country under quarantine due to the coronavirus (COVED-19) pandemic, stars have stepped up in full force. Kevin Bacon is making the most of his time in isolation by inspiring others to stay home to flatten the curve. Along with wife, Kyra Sedgewick, here’s how Bacon is providing the positivity we all need right now.
‘Apollo 13’ connected Kevin Bacon and Tom Hanks
25 years ago, Ron Howard connected two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Kevin Bacon and Tom Hanks. The 1995 film, Apollo 13, is where the two actors became lifelong friends.
The movie depicted a dramatized version of the Apollo 13 lunar mission. Bacon understands the importance of the film then, and now, as part of our nation’s history.
“We felt that we were making something special, and I think that we were really super tapped into NASA and that story and the history of the space program,” Bacon told Entertainment Tonight.
“We could feel actual astronauts getting excited about the movie that we were making. Hanks, I think he learned so much about the space program. I think he could fly the shuttle, honestly. He would just rattle this stuff off, it blew my mind.”
Bacon fondly remembered his time making ‘Apollo 13’
The Footloose star went on to reminisce about the late actor, and his co-star, Bill Paxton.
“And Bill Paxton, the late great Bill Paxton, was also really really, super super into it. It did feel like Ron was making something that was really gonna last,” he said.
“I was just digging around in my basement recently and found this behind-the-scenes footage of us on the Zero-G airplane, also known as the vomit comet, and I had all the footage from it digitized, because I didn’t know if anyone else had seen it. But it’s really wild… people don’t know that we actually filmed up in this Zero-G airplane that, up until that point, was only really used for testing, equipment and astronaut training. And Ron Howard had the idea to get up there and film up there. So we did, and it was quite an experience.”
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Apollo 13 won two Oscars and received a “Best Picture” nomination. More than that, it linked Bacon and Hanks, who are now close friends.
Tom Hanks exchanged emails with Kevin Bacon throughout his coronavirus quarantine
As two of the first celebrities to reveal they tested positive for coronavirus, Tom Hanks and wife, Rita Wilson, have been quarantined in Australia. They’re recovering now, but Bacon’s had them in his thoughts.
“But the way that he came right out with it, which by the way I don’t think he needed to do, but he said, ‘This is a real thing,’ and he also said, ‘We are going to be OK,’ was very powerful and beautiful move on his part,” he continued. “I’m thinking about him every day,” Bacon said in the same ET interview.
He continued: “We have exchanged emails and they are very much in my thoughts. Crazy about the guy. He is not just an incredible actor, but a real great man, and Rita as well. I think it was interesting how somebody that is so beloved was so early [diagnosed]. I think now we are at a place where we are going to [hear about] a lot of people that are well known [getting coronavirus].”
Bacon’s #IStayHomeFor challenge is inspiring fans to do the same
To pass the time and encourage everyone to do their part in social distancing, Bacon started the #IStayHomeFor challenge via Instagram. The post details the reasons Bacon has self-isolated to keep others safe, saying he stays home for his wife, Sedgewick.
#IStayHomeFor @kikkosedg! Hey everybody, it’s now so important to stay home and keep our distance from others if you are able. It’s one way we can help prevent the spread of #Coronavirus and save lives. The more of us who can make it safer for those who can’t,” the caption reads.
“So if you’re home too like me, post a video or photo with a sign like mine, telling who you are staying home for and ask 6 friends to do the same. Post it with the hashtag #IStayHomeFor so I can see and share. The more folks involved, the merrier – We’re all connected by various degrees (Trust me, I know!).”
He tagged Jimmy Fallon, Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Kevin Hart, Demi Lovato, and David Beckham. Those “six degrees” will continue the challenge, tagging six people of their own. Bacon said we can all use the “six-degree thing to do some good.”
The challenge encourages everyone to ‘stay home’ for someone they care about
As for how the idea came about, Bacon said staying home for someone you care about is a no-brainer.
“If you go out and interact with someone, you may not get that person sick and they may not get you sick, but they could get someone else sick and it could be connected through a series of six degrees,” Bacon explained.
“We all have somebody in our lives that is important to us and that is a good reason to stay home. I also think that I should point out there are a lot of people that cannot stay home, a lot of people who at a time like this, the real heroes start to come out of the woodwork and they exist in all kinds of surprising places.”
He credited first responders, medical professionals, grocery store workers, and sanitation workers for sticking it out on the frontlines. Bacon added that for all of us to stay home, those employees can do their jobs and “stay as safe as possible.”
“There is an opportunity here to get to a deeper and deeper level of a relationship,” the actor said of all the quality time he’s had with his family. “We keep our communication lines open as much as possible, we started meditating together, which is something we have never done before.”
Bacon said that they’ve found new ways to pass the time including a puzzle — something he and Sedgewick have never done in their 31 years together.
“We are experimenting with different ways to cook things out of the pantry…and playing music. We always have a lot of instruments around the house so we will start just playing something.”
