Unfortunately for Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, footage of the moment the couple learned they are biologically related has resurfaced and has social media users raising some eyebrows.
The couple are due to reunite on screen in their upcoming movie, Connescence, so you would think fans would have that to focus on but, for some reason, a resurfaced clip from Sedgwick’s 2012 appearance on Finding Your Roots is doing the rounds on social media.
While tracking her ancestry on the PBS TV show, Sedgwick, 58, was delivered the news by host Henry Louis Gates Jr. who told her she had a famous ninth cousin. “that she and her husband are ninth cousins but had a totally unbothered reaction. Host Henry Louis Gates Jr. “And his name is Kevin Bacon,” he added, according to The Independent.
“See. I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!” Sedgwick responded after airing her fears that she would unearth a biological connection to the father of her two children earlier on in the show.
In 2017, Sedgwick joked about the revelation at Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, while promoting her ABC Drama Ten Days in the Valley. “I figured I was going to be related to Kevin Bacon — I mean, most white people are related, ultimately,” Sedgwick said, per Observer. “I wasn’t surprised, honestly. Frankly, I figured that was part the reason that they wanted to do both of us. I had to act surprised.”
From cousins to political ties and even British royalty, find out which A-listers are related to each other! https://t.co/oeti1JP3UE
— SheKnows (@SheKnows) January 2, 2024
The discovery was very fitting given the popular trivia game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, a game that claims that anyone on earth is just six connections away from the Hollywood star. The game is based on the idea that Bacon’s extensive film career means he is connected to just about any star and, therefore, could be linked indirectly to most people in the world!
Bacon, 65, also stars in the episode and has his own reaction to the discover, and to the trivia game! “As long as we’re not first cousins, it’s fine,” he told Gates Jr.
“I wasn’t in the headspace to take it as flattery,” he said of the “six degrees” trend. “I kind of felt like it was a joke at my expense, you know.”
“Can you believe that this loser can be connected to one of the great actors in history, you know, like Olivier or something like that in 6 Degrees? So, I didn’t look at it as a badge of honor,” Bacon explained, adding that he eventually grew to appreciate the idea of connectedness.
“It’s a beautiful concept that we are connected,” he said. “That we all, essentially, kind of climbed out of the same swamp. It’s fun to be at the forefront of that idea.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Gates Jr. also told Bacon about his connection to some other stars, aside from his wife. “You and Brad Pitt are 13th cousins twice removed,” he tells the Footloose star. “You and President Obama share a common ancestor named Anthony Woolhouse. You are 12th cousins, three times removed.” Bacon replies: “No kidding. I knew I wasn’t getting enough respect.”
Sedgwick and Bacon have been married since 1988. They are parents to a 34-year-old son, Travis, and a 31-year-old daughter, actress Sosie Bacon.
Before you go, click here to see the longest celebrity marriages.
