Fact Check: Did Kevin Bacon turn down Patrick Swayze's role in 'Ghost'? Actor clears longstanding rumor

A longstanding rumor claimed that Wild Things star Kevin Bacon turned down the late great Patrick Swayze's role in the 1990 hit film Ghost. Ghost saw Patric Swayze portray the role of banker Sam Wheat who gets murdered and returns to earth as a spirit in order to protect his girlfriend with the help of a medium.

Although the rumor regarding Kevin Bacon originally being cast as Wheat has been going on for quite some time, the actor put it to rest in an interview with Business Insider published on Wednesday, July 10. Bacon never turned down Swayze's part as he was never offered the role in the first place. When asked about it, the actor told the publication a straight "No, I wish" before adding:

"I don't think I would've turned it down. I mean, I have no memory of that."

He also praised Swayze's performance by stating:

"And by the way, the other piece of that is 'Ghost' without Patrick Swayze — I don't know. It could have gone nowhere."

Although he did not turn down the role in Ghost, Kevin Bacon conceded that he has missed out on a few other opportunities. However, as an actor, he has made his peace with it. Bacon told Business Insider:

"Being an actor is a lifetime of rejection. It's a lifetime of getting just close. I think the only one that pops into my head is 'Raising Arizona,'"

Raising Arizona was a 1997 hit film by the Coen Brothers starring Nicolas Cage. Kevin Bacon mentioned that part of his regret stems from the fact that he loved the Coen Brothers. The actor told the publication:

"They went on to make just so many incredible movies, and I had a meeting with them and completely f**ked it up. So that's the one that resonates with me,"

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It wasn't Kevin Bacon but Patrick Swayze who saved Ghost

Ghost, shot with a budget of $22 million, ended up being a massive hit grossing $505.7 million in the global box office. The film was also a critical success, managing to attain five Academy Award nominations and winning two. Bruce Joel Rubin won the Oscar for Best Screenplay, and Whoopi Goldberg who portrayed medium Oda Mae Brown took home the award for Best Supporting Actress.

In a 2015 interview with Vanity Fair for the 25th anniversary of Ghost screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin revealed that the filmmakers had actually approached "every major actor in Hollywood" who was "hot" at that time for the part of Sam Wheat. However, most of them (just not Kevin Bacon) turned it down. The screenwriter told the publication:

"Harrison Ford said, ‘I read this thing three times and I still don’t get it.’ Michael J. Fox, Paul Hogan, on and on, we kept getting turned down."

Rubin thought that Hollywood actors did not want to play dead men as it was a sign of a "loss of vitality." Even though director Jerry Zucker had faith that the film would land somebody better, the offers kept drying up until eventually Patrick Swayze swooped in and saved the day. Rubin told the publication:

"When Patrick said yes, he basically saved the movie."

In the late Patrick Swayze's 2009 memoir The Time of My Life, the actor mentioned that director Jerry Zucker was not completely sold on him as Sam Wheat so he approached a plethora of other actors. According to Swayze, Zucker approached actors like Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, and even Kevin Bacon, who denied getting offered the part in the aforementioned interview.

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In other news, Kevin Bacon recently graced theaters once again with Ti West's MaXXXine starring Mia Goth. The movie was released in theaters across the country on July 5, 2024.