Kevin Bacon Shares a Startling Finding While Making “Wild Things

A horrific behind-the-scenes video from Kevin Bacon’s 1998 movie Wild Things was just posted online. In a video interview with Variety, the 66-year-old Footloose star recapped some of his most famous quotes while promoting his new Prime Video series, The Bondsman. Recalling his part in Wild Things, Bacon disclosed that the film’s team once came across a dead body while it was being made.

I can’t recall what we were filming, but Bacon recalled, “We were out in the swamp one night — a lot of mosquitoes, wow — and we were shooting some scene by kind of a river.” In order to install a light, they had sort of floated a raft out there.

Suddenly, I hear someone say, “Hey, I think I just saw a floater,” over the walkie-talkie. Additionally, a body was floating by. It was somewhat representative of the mood of the film.

In a previous interview with Entertainment Weekly, director John McNaughton also described the incident, stating that it happened in an Everglades wetland. He clarified that as the crew awaited the arrival of authorities to look into the discovery, filming was momentarily put on hold.

In EW’s 1998 Spring Movie Preview, McNaughton claims that the crew called the police, who came and took the body out of the frame before it could be captured on video. The neo-noir thriller Wild Things (1998) takes place in the wealthy neighborhood of Blue Bay, Florida.

In the movie, two teenagers, Kelly Van Ryan and Suzie Toller, accuse high school guidance counselor Sam Lombardo of rape. A complicated network of deceit, greed, and manipulation is exposed as the investigation progresses, revealing startling turns and betrayals.

Nothing is as it seems, despite Detective Ray Duquette’s efforts to find the truth behind the accusations. The film, which is well-known for its thought-provoking plot and surprising turns, examines themes of deceit, retaliation, and the hazy boundaries between guilt and innocence.

The cast of Wild Things was prominent, with Matt Dillon playing guidance counselor Sam Lombardo and Kevin Bacon as Detective Ray Duquette. Denise Richards portrayed Kelly Van Ryan, while Neve Campbell portrayed Suzie Toller.

Sandra Van Ryan played Kelly’s mother, Theresa Russell played her, and Bill Murray played Lombardo’s quirky lawyer, Kenneth Bowden. Under the direction of John McNaughton.