Braveheart, Weird Science, & Kevin Bacon

[Did you know that Robert the Bruce is one of my ancestors? For reals. Check out the story here.]

By now you all know that Braveheart is the greatest movie of all time. You’re welcome to disagree, but that makes you a horrible person.

Turns out, through much genealogical digging by my fellow-dorkish family, that yours truly is personally related to the real Robert the Bruce, the 14th Century Scottish noble who was really stupid to William Wallace and the commoners before wising up and deciding to lead the freedom-seeking revolutionaries of Scotland.

In Braveheart, Robert the Bruce is played by Angus MacFadyen. The versatile actor has kept busy since that blockbuster work in 1995. He’s done a bunch of stuff from portraying Peter Lawford of the Rat Pack to many recent appearances in the dark and popular Saw movies.

Since the Bruce and I are practically brothers, I’ve given some more thought to my conflicted, old ancestor and the man who once portrayed him. That’s when I started thinking about another movie, Weird Science.

The popular comedy Weird Science was made in 1985. The famous high school fantasy flick features characters Gary and Wyatt who create the quintessential bombshell Lisa, played by Kelly LeBrock. Gary is played by Brat Pack star Anthony Michael Hall whose acting career is still going strong these days. Wyatt was played by Iian Mitchell-Smith. His life took a surprising turn away from fame.

Mitchell-Smith left acting in the early 90s to pursue his love of history and enter academia. An interesting website Bearotic also found this forgotten man post-worthy. Check out this photo they tracked down of the camera shy professor (on the right, pictured in 2000). These days he specializes in medieval studies including 14th Century England, Scotland, and (you guessed it) Robert the Bruce. Maybe this connection explains the modern look.

So in case you were wondering, and I’m sure not one person in the world was, Wyatt from Weird Science did not portray my granddaddy Robert the Bruce in Braveheart.

By the way, Weird Science goon Bill Paxton later appeared in Tombstone with Kurt Russell who appeared with Mel Gibson in Tequila Sunrise. Gibson and Julia Roberts were in Conspiracy Theory (1997) together, and Roberts was in Flatliners (1990) with Kevin Bacon.

The bottom line is that you no longer have to fret over how to connect Wyatt from Weird Science to Kevin Bacon. I’m sure you were troubled.

Have you ever been surprised to find out where an actor ended up?

Got any good Kevin Bacon connections?