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Comment by cwnyth | Hacker News Reader

Kevin Bacon is objectively an A-list actor.

I mean. Footloose. But his list of stinkers is so epic it overshadows his peak movies. His career is an iceberg, with only the tiniest but showing above the popularity line.

Couldn't you say the same about Nick Cage? Granted, Cage's iceberg is quite a bit bigger than Bacon's.

I mean... He's been directed by absolute A-list directors, opposite absolute-A++-list actors... Yeah, I'd definitely call him A-list.

* Footloose - How many movie-featured songs get played at MORE weddings?

* Apollo 13 - directed by Ron Howard

* Mystic River - directed by Clint Eastwood

* Sleepers

* X-Men: First Class

* A Few Good Men - directed by Rob Reiner

* JFK - Oliver Stone

* Murder in the First

* She's Having A Baby - directed by John Hughes

* Planes, Trains and Automobiles - directed by John Hughes

* Animal House

* Balto

Sure, if you want to invent new tiers like A++ then I guess we can agree Kevin Bacon is third tier and just call it different things.

Whatever you call the absolute top tier, that is Shah Ruh Khan.

Most he ever made for a film was $6M and vast majority of films were $1M or less.

> B-List: Highly successful, dependable actors who frequently star in popular television series or play vital supporting/co-leading roles in major films, but rarely headline a massive blockbuster entirely on their own. Examples: Cult favorites, popular TV leads, or emerging block-buster stars.

I'll concede he's not at the same level as George Clooney, but as the lead in Footloose and co-leads/part of ensemble leads in Wild Things, Flatliners, The River Wild, and Hollow Man, I would have thought that put him above someone like Bill Pullman, who I think of as a B-list actor. But you don't always have to be the lead to be an A-lister. Just look at Gary Oldman.

> co-leads/part of ensemble leads in Wild Things, Flatliners, The River Wild, and Hollow Man,

Kinda surprised you left Apollo 13 out of that list, as it was definitely an ensemble cast of the 90s but he still IMO nailed the role.

Just because there's some lower on the B-list than actor A, that doesn't mean A is off the B-list.

Equally, just because someone is lower on the A-list than actor B doesn't mean that B is off the A-list...

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