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They/Them's Darwin Del Fabro Talks Working With Kevin Bacon On The Slasher Film
August 11, 2022
by Cynthia Vinney
There are few actors in Hollywood that can boast the success and longevity of Kevin Bacon. In a career that spans over forty years, Bacon has seemingly done it all, from playing a dancing rebel in "Footloose" to an astronaut in "Apollo 13" to a supervillain in "X-Men: First Class." Now he's having a bit of a full-circle moment as he returns to the slasher genre of one of his earliest films — "Friday the 13th" — by playing the owner of a rustic camp stalked by a knife-wielding maniac in Peacock's "They/Them," which he also executive produced.
Bacon's Owen Whistler operates a gay conversion camp, and as he welcomes his newest group of queer campers, Owen comes across as amiable and easy-going, setting the campers' — and the audience's — minds at ease. However, just like at Camp Crystal Lake from "Friday the 13th," there's more going on at this camp than meets the eye — although in this case, that has as much to do with the horrors of gay conversion as it does the masked killer lurking in the woods.
Making his Hollywood debut in the film is Brazilian performer Darwin Del Fabro, whose standout turn as Gabriel will keep viewers guessing. Del Fabro spoke to Looper about what he learned from starring opposite Bacon in "They/Them."
Acting with Bacon was 'a masterclass'
Darwin Del Fabro radiates gratitude for his experience on "They/Them" and indicated that working with Kevin Bacon was one of the highlights. "Watching [Bacon] perform is a masterclass," Del Fabro noted. "It's that memory of me in Brazil watching 'Friday the 13th' with him doing his first movie, a slasher movie in a summer camp. Now, me here with him in the summer camp doing my debut in America in a slasher movie is a dream come true. Life is too good."
Yet Del Fabro revealed that it was the way Bacon and "They/Them" writer and director John Logan acted behind the scenes that inspired him the most. "What's very interesting for me is seeing those big actors when you're not shooting — when they're behind the cameras, and how they behave, and how they treat others, and their preparation," Del Fabro shared. "Seeing Kevin, you understand why he has been in this business for so long, because he's such a pro. He treated us so well. I'm starting well, having those examples of masters like him, like John Logan, giving us a good example. We need that, especially in this industry."
"They/Them" is streaming on Peacock.