Kevin Bacon tells GQ: “the shiny side of FAME makes me feel empty”

Kevin Bacon is one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors and an icon for his roles in several hit movies, but the actor’s recent interview with GQ Magazine reveals secrets that will make fans appreciate the actor even more.

During an interview in his New York City loft, Bacon –who rose to fame after his main-role in Footloose 35 years ago which turned him into a once feathered-haired teen idol, tells GQ Magazine that he decided at some point that he had no long-term interest in headlining blockbusters.

“A leading man is a man who, it doesn’t matter,” he says. “You give him the three Gs, which is the gun, the girl, and the good lighting—that man is going to be eminently watchable. You’re going to want to see everything that that person does. That’s not me.”

Maybe it’s perhaps part of his charm that he pays no mind to the things he can’t control—to things like one’s indescribable onscreen essence. He regards himself as a jobber, a yeoman of the trade, who has managed against the odds to simply keep a career simmering on a low boil for as long as he has.

But over time, he realized that the shiny side of [being a] celebrity felt empty to him. “What I learned, in the long run, is that what I love, love, love is the time between ‘action’ and ‘cut,’ ” he says. “I love the work. I mean, I really do. On my worst day, I fucking love it… If anything, I’ve never learned to be—what’s the word?—cynical about the possibilities for any kind of success around a project. And as a result, I’m often disappointed, you know? People don’t like it. It doesn’t perform at the box office. It gets canceled after one season. It gets canceled after three seasons. The numbers drop off. The reviews are bad, all these things that can happen. If you look at my career, it’s amazing, honestly, that anybody gives me a gig anymore, because I’ve had a lot of failures. I mean, I’ve had a few successful things, but I’ve had way more flops.”

Watch the full interview below

And don’t forget to head over to GQ to read the full interview and photos.