9 Milestones in the Evolution of Kevin Bacon

The River Wild (1994)

Sandwiched between a fine role in Rob Reiner's courtroom drama and a compelling performance in another courtroom drama Murder in the First (for which many fans believed he should have earned an Oscar nomination), Bacon starred opposite Meryl Streep and David Strathairn in this adventure thriller. For his role as a fugitive murderer who carries a gun while whitewater rafting, Bacon earned first Golden Globe nod but lost out that year Ed Wood's Martin Landau.

Sleepers (1996)

Bacon reunited with Diner director Barry Levinson for this legal drama in which he played a 1960s reform school guard who systematically rapes and beats the institution's male students. So much for the public's long-lasting impression of Kevin Bacon as the kid who just wanted to dance in Footloose.

Mystic River (2003)

In one of the best performances of his career -- and one that rescued him from another professional lag (My Dog Skip and Hollow Man, anyone?) -- Bacon played a Massachusetts State Police detective who investigates the murder of his childhood friend's daughter. The performance in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning drama would earn him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

Loverboy (2005)

By this time in Bacon's career, the actor had been experimenting with behind-the-camera roles. He made his directorial debut with the TV drama Losing Chase in 1996, earned his first executive producer credit on Wild Things in 1998 and now, Bacon was ready to direct his first feature. A family affair, Loverboy starred his wife Kyra Sedgwick while Bacon and his two children had small parts and his brother oversaw the music. Although the small drama earned mixed reviews (mostly because of the film's grim plot about an emotionally unstable mother), most critics agreed that the actor was a perfectly capable director.

X-Men: First Class (2011)

After a 30+ year career, Kevin Bacon takes a breather from twisted subject material (like in The Woodsman, where he boldly played a convicted pedophile) and heavy dramas (Frost/Nixon) to thrill audiences with this weekend's inevitable box office blockbuster X-Men: First Class. As another villain in a long line of onscreen baddies, Bacon perfects his sneer and acts alongside a new star-studded cast that could facilitate your next round of the trivia game based on his impressive and extensive filmography, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

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