Kevin Bacon tells Graham Norton he just loves saying “I Love Dick”
Kevin Bacon has told Graham Norton that one of the perks of starring in new Amazon show I Love Dick is that he gets the thrill of saying that title over and over and over again.
The actor has a lead role in the adaptation of Chris Kraus’s radical 1997 novel, which comes from Sarah Gubbins and Transparent creator Jill Soloway.
In the show, married couple Chris and Sylvere’s relationship is tested when they both fall for the same professor, the mysterious Dick, played by Bacon.
“I only took the role so I could say the title of the show over and over again at press events!” Bacon joked on The Graham Norton Show.
The show’s pilot was taken up for a full eight-episode season, which will be available on Amazon from May 12.
Quizzed on whether there would be a second season, Bacon said: “Hopefully it will continue. I would love to do another season. I loved making it – it was a blast.”
I Love Dick is not Bacon’s first role that touches on LGBT issues. He starred in Dustin Lance Black’s special Proposition 8 play back in 2012.
While on Norton’s couch, Bacon also spoke about the risks and rewards of being recognised in public.
“I was driving on the border of Oklahoma and Texas and the towns come up fast and furious and I guess I was going faster than the speed limit,” he said.
“I got pulled over and the police officer asked me to step out of the car. There might have been a little contraband in the car so my heart rate was starting to climb.”
Bacon added: “He then asked me to get in his car and we just sat there for a while. Finally, he said, ‘I want you to know that the first date I ever had was to Footloose’. I just got a warning!”
Bacon continued: “People don’t talk about the fact that being recognisable is 99.9 percent good and people are nice to you.
“People stop me in the street to say they love me, and who doesn’t want to be loved?
“It’s mostly good, but once in a while, you ask yourself what it would be like to walk through the world anonymously so I decided to experiment with that.
“I had a disguise made by a special effects make-up artist and I walked through The Grove shopping mall in California, which is the worst place if you are a celebrity.
“But nobody recognised me… it was awful – I thought, ‘This sucks and I’m going back to Kevin Bacon ASAP!’.”
Also appearing on the show, which airs tonight (Friday) at 10.40pm on BBC One, are fellow actors Jessica Chastain and Michael Fassbender, while Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz performs live.
Coming up on next week’s show are director Guy Ritchie, Queer as Folk actor Charlie Hunnam, Secret Diary of a Call Girl’s Billie Piper and comedian Jason Manford, with a musical performance from Imelda May.
