Kevin Bacon Says a Real Dead Body Floated by While Filming ‘Wild Things’ Scene in a Swamp

Kevin Bacon just dropped a story that makes Wild Things even darker than it already was.

While revisiting memories of the 1998 erotic thriller during a Variety segment, Bacon revealed that an actual corpse floated by during filming. They were out in a swamp, setting up a nighttime shot by a river. Mosquitoes everywhere. A raft floating with lights attached. Everything seemed in place — until one of the crew crackled over the radio: “Hey, uh, I think I just saw a floater.”

That “floater” wasn’t part of the script. It was a body. A real one. Drifting down the same river where they were trying to shoot a scene.

Law enforcement was called to the set. According to director John McNaughton, the police managed to remove the body before it showed up in the background of the shot. The shoot kept going. It was a twisted coincidence that somehow felt on-brand for the dark, tangled vibe of Wild Things.

Bacon played Detective Ray Duquette in the film — a cop trying to untangle a three-way con involving a seductive trust fund plot. The movie starred Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, and Denise Richards, and became infamous for its provocative twists, steamy scenes, and sudden violence. So yeah, finding a dead body in the swamp? That almost fits the mood a little too well.

Bacon’s been doing press lately for his new horror series The Bondsman, in which he plays a murdered bounty hunter brought back by Satan to track escaped demons. Between that and Maxxxine, he’s clearly leaning into his horror side — something he fully embraces.

“I love that shared experience,” Bacon said. “That moment when a whole theater jumps at once. And then laughs because they jumped. That’s something you don’t forget.”