As Ti West’s highly anticipated slasher film “Maxxxine” prepares to hit theaters on July 5, veteran actor Kevin Bacon offers a candid look at his early days of stardom and the evolving landscape of horror cinema. The film, set in 1985 Hollywood, serves as the final installment of West’s “X” trilogy and stars Mia Goth as an aspiring actress navigating the cutthroat entertainment industry while evading a mysterious serial killer.
Bacon, who plays a jaded private detective in “Maxxxine,” drew parallels between the film’s themes and his own experiences with fame in the 1980s. In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, the actor admitted, “I didn’t really enjoy it, honestly. I worked so hard to be famous. When I got it, I was like, ‘Oh shit, I don’t think I like this.'” Reflecting on his past attitude, Bacon now advises up-and-coming stars to “Enjoy it. Ride the wave.”
The “Footloose” star’s involvement in “Maxxxine” stems from his admiration for West’s previous works in the trilogy, “X” and “Pearl.” Bacon praised West’s ability to create “compelling movies on a shoestring budget,” noting the director’s inventiveness and creative genius. This sentiment is echoed by fellow cast member Giancarlo Esposito, who joined the project after his daughters introduced him to viral clips from the earlier films.
West chose the 1980s setting for “Maxxxine” to explore the era’s “puritanical” debates surrounding acceptable content in movies and music. The director told Yahoo Entertainment, “There was a real debate that went all the way to Congress about whether it should be OK for music to say certain things, or if movies should be able to be violent and things like that.”
Bacon, a horror genre veteran himself, having starred in the iconic “Friday the 13th,” believes that horror has shed its former “loser status” in filmmaking. Speaking to Consequence, he remarked, “For many years it was considered, like, a loser part of filmmaking — it would never make its way into the awards sphere.” He credits directors like West and Jordan Peele for elevating the genre, stating, “These are artists.”
The film also marks the feature debut of musician Moses Sumney, who appreciated West’s desire to “push the envelope” with the themes explored in “Maxxxine.” Meanwhile, West expressed bittersweet feelings about concluding the trilogy, noting that fans relate strongly to Goth’s character Maxine because of the “judgment-free” look at the quest for fame.
As “Maxxxine” prepares to captivate audiences with its blend of ’80s nostalgia, horror, and Hollywood ambition, it stands as a testament to the genre’s evolution and its ability to attract top-tier talent both in front of and behind the camera.
