Kevin Bacon had a blast playing 'Bondsman' from hell

NEW YORK, April 3 (UPI) -- Friday the 13th, Footloose, Flatliners, JFK, Tremors and Apollo 13 icon Kevin Bacon says he is excited to return to both television and the horror genre for his new Prime Video series, The Bondsman.

"I went kicking and screaming into television in -- I don't even remember what year it was -- but it was with The Following, [which ran 2013-15]. That was the first TV show that I did and, ever since then, I've just always felt like I'll always come back to television," Bacon, 66, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

"I don't see any reason not to," he said. "The exploration of character that I can do, in the case of The Bondsman, with four hours rather than an hour and 45 minutes, or with The Following and City on a Hill in multiple hours over multiple seasons, is just great for an actor. It's like a great kind of playground."

Premiering Thursday, The Bondsman follows Georgia musician-turned-bounty hunter Hub Halloran (Bacon), who is killed, sent to hell, then brought back to life to track down escaped demons for Lucifer.

"He's a badass, but he doesn't have any superpowers and he also has made a lot of mistakes in his life and has a lot of demons circling around, but also inside his soul," Bacon said. "That is a really fun thing to act."

Beth Grant plays Hub's mother Kitty, while Jennifer Nettles plays his ex-wife Maryanne, Maxwell Jenkins plays Hub and Maryanne's teen son Cade and Damon Herriman plays Lucky, Maryanne's new boyfriend.

"The tone of it was just so interesting to me -- this outlandish idea of becoming a bondsman, a bounty hunter for the devil and sending demons back was so crazy," Bacon said.

"And, yet, the show has these very kind of grounded, regular scenes between regular family members and that just in and of itself was sort of a funny idea."

Confused by his circumstances, Hub initially turns down the mission with which he has been charged, but Kitty talks him into it because she doesn't want her son to be eternally damned.

"He's like: 'This can't be possible. I don't even understand. And, by the way, why me? I don't get it,'" Bacon said of his character.

"He says: 'I went to hell. There's got to be some mistake,'" the actor added. "He is so in denial to his family and to the world about some very serious mistakes that he's made in his life and, yet, he's not a character that screams and is freaked out. He's pretty cool about it."

Bacon said he enjoyed working with his talented leading ladies, Grant and Nettles.

"I'm from Philadelphia, so being with those decidedly Southern girls was really great for the tone of the show," he added.

"In their attitudes towards life, the two of them are similar with their approach, and I loved working with both of them," Bacon said. "The whole company of people was really, really strong and very kind to each other and kind to the crew. Over the years, I've found that's really important to me -- that we have a working environment that is generous and respectful and safe for everybody."