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Kyra Sedgwick Has an Unusual Fear That Caused Hubby Kevin Bacon to Turn Down a Role

Photo Credit: Steve Jennings / WireImage / Getty Images
Photo Credit: Steve Jennings / WireImage / Getty Images

If you were hoping to see Kevin Bacon as a “dancing, singing M&M” anytime soon, you’re out of luck. While Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon are supportive of each other’s careers, that doesn’t extend to roles that include anthropomorphic food. In an interview on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Sedgwick revealed a fear that resulted in her giving the thumbs down to a role that was offered to her husband.

Cibolasiphobia: the fear of anthropomorphic food?

Before talking about their new film, Space Oddity, Corden asked if either Sedgwick or Bacon had ever asked the other to turn down a role. Both agreed that they had opinions on the parts that the other took, but Sedgwick was quick to say that she had asked her husband not to take on one particular role. 

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick at a red carpet event
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick attend the Vanity Fair 95th Oscars Party at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California on March 12, 2023. (Photo Credit: MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

She said Bacon was “asked to play a dancing, singing M&M.” After confirming that it was in fact the candy, and not the rapper, Eminem, Sedgwick added that she has “a thing with moving, talking food. I have serious issues with this.”

She continued, “It makes me sick to my stomach when I see commercials where the Oreo slides down the cream slide. Like just the cookie part. Or any anthropomorphizing of food.” Her point was emphasized when Corden mentioned a “talking hot dog,” which resulted in a disgusted look and an “ugh” in response.

Kyra Sedgwick in a black and white dress
Kyra Sedgwick attends Build previewing the new Lifetime film ‘Story of a Girl’ at Build Studio on July 21, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Desiree Navarro/WireImage)

Bacon then chimed in to ask what she thought of the Pillsbury Doughboy, to which she responded, “so bad,” though she admitted that he wasn’t too repulsive since he doesn’t look like food. This despite the fact, as Bacon pointed out, he’s “a big mound of dough.”

Corden sympathetically inquired whether it’s a genuine phobia. Sedgwick said, “I feel like I looked it up on Wikipedia, and there was something about people who can’t handle seeing this sort of thing.” 

Not knowing what the phobia was called, Corden asked one of his producers to look it up. “Cibolasiphobia” was given as the apparent name of this condition. Bacon humorously summed up the segment with the quip, “I had no idea I married a Cibolasiphobian.”

What do experts think?

If you’ve never heard of this phobia, don’t feel bad. Neither had we. Martin Anthony, professor and chair of the psychology department at Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly Ryerson University, told TODAY.com that he also had never heard of it. 

In an email, he wrote, “I have never heard of anyone with this fear, and I have never seen it documented in the literature (there is no information out there on its prevalence).” He also noted that most phobia experts probably never heard of the term either.

Anthony did say that “it is not unusual for individuals to develop unusual (or even unique) fears, so I have no reason to doubt that Kyra Sedgwick really has this fear.”

He also added that there is an important difference between a fear and a phobia. “Most fears are not phobias… For a fear to meet the diagnostic criteria for a phobia… it would have to affect her life in important ways,” he said.

These could include such serious problems as the interruption of sleep schedules, relationships, and work. To be fair, it could actually be said that it has affected her husband’s work.

More from us: Rhea Perlman Gets Candid About Split From Danny DeVito

The couple’s film, Space Oddity, was released on March 31, 2023. Sedgwick directed and Bacon played the role of Jeff McAllister, who is decidedly not an M&M.

Ryan McLachlan

Ryan McLachlan is a historian and content writer for Hive Media. He received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Classical Studies and his Master of Arts in History from the University of Western Ontario. Ryan’s research focused on military history, and he is particularly interested in the conflicts fought by the United Kingdom from the Napoleonic Wars to the Falklands War.

Ryan’s other historical interests include naval and maritime history, the history of aviation, the British Empire, and the British Monarchy. He is also interested in the lives of Sir Winston Churchill and Admiral Lord Nelson. Ryan enjoys teaching, reading, writing, and sharing history with anyone who will listen.

In his spare time, he enjoys watching period dramas such as Murdoch Mysteries and Ripper Street and also enjoys reading classical literature and Shakespeare. He also plays football and is an afternoon tea connoisseur.