"Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" has been an enduring meme ever since it first bubbled up in a newsgroup in the 90s. The idea is simple: because Kevin Bacon has been in so many movies, he can be connected to any Hollywood actor through the actors he's previously worked with, usually in six steps or fewer.
Quiz: Which actors are more connected than Kevin Bacon?
Phil Edwards was a senior producer for the Vox video team.
For example, Robert Downey Jr. worked with Stephanie Szostak in Iron Man 3, who, in turn, worked with Kevin Bacon in R.I.P.D. Two degrees. This allows every actor to be assigned a “bacon number” — showing how many steps it takes to be connected to Kevin Bacon.
But one intrepid researcher, Brett Tjaden, has taken that concept a step further, calculating the average degrees it takes any actor to be connected to another. That new “separation degree” number helps show who’s really the most-connected actor in Hollywood.
And the intriguing part? Kevin Bacon is ranked 407th on the list. Eric Roberts is number one, Michael Madsen is number two, and Harvey Keitel is number three. (Arguably the game should be called “Six Degrees of Eric Roberts.”)
In fact, with the quiz below, you can see if an actor or actress is more or less connected than Kevin Bacon. Keep in mind: Bacon’s separation degree number is 3.00532. Which of these actors have a lower number?
If you want to see the full list, you can go to the Oracle of Bacon site, which compiled the rankings. It updates frequently to reflect changes in who’s the true “Center of Hollywood.” Or you can browse a few new visualizations of the data courtesy of Randal Olson.
You can even compute Bacon numbers in your free time: if you do a Google search for “bacon number” and put an actor’s name after the phrase, it will tell you how many degrees away Kevin Bacon is (though, of course, you always wish he were closer).
