Kevin Bacon says his family has ‘horror tradition’ after daughter’s success in sleeper hit Smile

For many fans, they first noticed Kevin Bacon when he starred in the original slasher film Friday The 13th (1980), which became a surprise hit and spawned a 12-movie franchise.

The apple does not fall far from the tree, because daughter Sosie Bacon also scored a hit in the horror genre with her role in Smile, which was number one for three weeks.

‘She’s fantastic,’ the proud father, 64, shared in an interview with The Hollywood Reporterbefore revealing how he was “baffled not only about how amazing she was, but how difficult that role was, because it’s one of those parts where there’s no break.”

Kevin elaborated on what he means by a no-break role, explaining how most characters usually “start out pretty happy for at least 15 minutes or 20 minutes before everything gets awful.”

He added: ‘But that’s a movie where the stress level is? [insane]. I was very proud of her.’

Playing Dr. Rose Cotter in Smile is not Sosie’s first role, but it is her most successful; grossing $171.5 million dollars at the box office on a budget of $17 million

The sleeper hit also stands out as the top-grossing horror film of 2022.

Surprise hit: Sosie Bacon, 30, scored a bona fide hit in the horror genre with Smile

Breakthrough: Dr. Playing Rose Cotter in Smile is not Sosie’s first role, but it is her most successful; grossing $171.5 million dollars at the box office on a budget of $17 million

The success of Sosie, 30 and Smile is similar to what happened to her father and his breakthrough role in Friday The 13th, in which she played Jack Burrell, the teenager who is famously murdered while lying on his back in bed.

After leaving home at age 17, the Philadelphia native landed the slasher movie about four years later, all the while playing a small role on a soap opera.

‘Friday The 13th was sort of the definition of low-budget indie. It was made for nothing. I was in Blairstown, New Jersey. I used to have to take a public bus to a bus stop in the middle of a country road, and someone from the set would drive out to pick me up. I mean, that was the closest you’ll get to any transportation,” he said of shooting the 1979 film.

While the budget for Friday The 13th ended up being $550,000, the film became a sleeper hit, earning $59.8 million at the box office. And that was just the beginning as it achieved franchise status, with 11 more movies, a television series, novels, comic books, video games and linked merchandise.

Slasher: Sosie and Smile’s success is similar to what happened to her father in Friday The 13th, when she played Jack Burrell, the teenager who is famously murdered while lying on his back in bed.

Franchise-setter: Friday The 13th became a sleep hit, making $59.8 million at the box office on a budget of just $550,000; it has also set up a full franchise of 12 movies

In keeping with family tradition, Sosie’s mother, Kyra Sedgwick, also starred in a horror film, The Possession (2012), alongside Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Madison Davenport, Grant Show, Natasha Calis, Matisyahu, and Jay Brazeau.

Kevin went on to explain how he and his 34-year-old wife didn’t even know Sosie was interested in an acting career until she was in her early 20s.

She dropped out of college and moved to LA and really started doing the right things,” he said of the process she followed to create her own career. “Banging on the sidewalk, doing self-tape after self-tape and studying.”

Sosie scored her first role in the drama film Loverboy (2005), which was directed by her father, who also starred alongside wife Kyra Sedgwick, 57.

Her resume also includes roles in Netflix teen drama series 13 Reasons Why (2017–2018) and the HBO series Mare of Eastown (2021).

Rising Star: Sosie Bacon’s resume also includes roles in Netflix teen drama series 13 Reasons Why (2017-2018) and the HBO series Mare of Eastown (2021); she saw in September 2022