6 Degrees: The Three Pillars of Bacon

Generally speaking, when you are searching for a link between any two actors, you want to focus on the Three Pillars:

1. Famous But Tricky Actors
2. Generational Links
3. Ensemble Casts

Let’s give a concrete example of how all three are interconnected. Consider this absurd yet incredibly entertaining example: Hulk Hogan to Marylin Monroe. 

At a glance you think, that’s easy! They were both super famous! You accept the challenge with a smirk, feeling assured that your childhood of practicing wrestling moves and sneaking peeks at Playboy will pay off in this spectacularly trivial moment………. but then the doubts set in. 

Wait, you ask yourself, was Hulk Hogan even in a movie? Does Wrestlemania VI count?? 

And Marilyn Monroe… she hooked up with JFK, right? Did they make a movie about that?? Can I use Hugh Hefner cameos and call it good?

Hubris is closing in like a dark cloud… and then it hits you: “Thunderlips, the ultimate male, baby!” Hulk Hogan was in Rocky III! Marylin Monroe was in that old movie with cross dressing and the guy from Grumpy Old Men! You’ve got a foothold; two Famous But Tricky Actors have shown a way towards the light without really knowing a lot of details. 

Now that you’ve pulled from the vaguest pop culture moments of your memory, let’s take stock of where we are:

Hulk Hogan was in

Rocky III

with somebody who was in

another movie

with somebody else

in a different movie

and so on

and so forth

until we connect

with what else we know

that guy from Grumpy Old Men

the cross-dressing movie

Marilyn Monroe

Now, Pillars 2 & 3 work in tandem from here. Since you’ve only got 6 degrees (or less) to work with, it’s best to cut off a few decades at one blow with a Generational Link, ideally linking into an Ensemble Cast. Starting at the top, Hogan gives two clear paths for this. Rocky III came out in 1982, so you can take it either direction on the timeline and land in an Ensemble Cast:

a) Sylvester Stallone was in The Expendables 3 in 2014 and, even more recently, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in 2017. Both films offer a smorgasbord of Actor options across multiple genres, but there’s a problem. Marilyn Monroe died in 1962. If we’re trying to get to her oeuvre ASAP, we’re moving the wrong direction.  

b) A better play is Talia Shire (Yo, Adrian!). She was in an Ensemble Cast for the ages: The Godfather films. (This is me refusing to call it a trilogy, because it is not). Using either of the first two Godfather films, we can now link to the Who’s Who of Generational Links, the Dons of 6 Degree Connections. Need proof?? Consider the actors you can link in one step with this crew:

This throwback…	was in a movie with…	who was in a movie with…
Carl Reiner	Al Pacino	Jennifer Lopez
Jerry Lewis	Robert De Niro	Zac Efron
Charlie Chaplin	Marlon Brando	Angela Bassett
Woody Allen	Diane Keaton	Rachel McAdams
Gregory Peck	Robert Duvall	Nicolas Cage

Pretty crazy you can get from Charlie Chaplin to J Lo in 3 degrees, huh? But I digress from the task at hand. Let’s update this bad boy:

Hulk Hogan was in

Rocky III

with Talia Shire who was in

The Godfather

with Al Pacino who was in

another Ensemble Cast

with ???

and so forth

until we connect

with what else we know

that guy from Grumpy Old Men

the cross-dressing movie

Marilyn Monroe

Now, if you are a movie buff (or a David Mamet fan) you’ll realize there is an IDEAL Ensemble Cast that can cut to the chase right now. Can you name that film? 

That’s right, you don’t even NEED all 6 degrees to link these two!

Hulk Hogan was in

Rocky III

with Talia Shire who was in

The Godfather

with Al Pacino who was in

Glengarry Glen Ross

with ???

and so forth

until we connect

with what else we know

that guy from Grumpy Old Men (Jack Lemmon)

the cross-dressing movie (Some Like It Hot)

Marilyn Monroe

But just to keep it spicy, and to humor Riley, a full 6 Degree treatment might look something like this: 

Hulk Hogan was in

Rocky III

with Talia Shire who was in

The Godfather

with Al Pacino who was in

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

with Michael Madsen who was in

Kill Bill Vol. 1

with Daryl Hannah who was in

Grumpy Old Men

with Jack Lemmon who was in

Some Like It Hot

Marilyn Monroe

There you have it, dear bookworms. Don’t feel bad about bingeing blockbusters. Drink them in! Their actor-laden casts will lead you to victory!