Democracy means a lot to me. The Constitution means a lot to me.
As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding, actress Kyra Sedgwick has found herself drawn into a quiet reckoning with history — her own and the nation's. The discovery that her ancestor William Ellery signed the Declaration of Independence has given her a personal stake in the ideals most Americans inherit only abstractly. In a moment when founding documents are being revisited and reexamined, Sedgwick's reflection reminds us that history is not merely civic inheritance but a living thread running through families, choices, and the values we choose to carry forward.
- With the nation's 250th birthday approaching, Americans are being pulled back toward their founding documents — and for Sedgwick, that pull is genealogical as well as patriotic.
- Learning that her bloodline connects directly to the signing of the Declaration of Independence has transformed abstract democratic values into something personal and weighted with responsibility.
- Sedgwick spoke not with casual pride but with the sober awareness that such a legacy asks something of the person who holds it.
- Her remarks arrive at a cultural moment when the meaning of democracy and the Constitution are actively contested, lending her words an urgency beyond celebrity biography.
- The conversation threads outward — from founding documents to the family she and Kevin Bacon have built, raising children deliberately shielded from fame and now finding their own paths.
When Kyra Sedgwick appeared on "Today" to discuss her new film, the conversation shifted toward history — specifically, her family's place in it. The 60-year-old actress shared that her ancestor William Ellery was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence, a fact she holds not as a boast but as a source of genuine weight. "Democracy means a lot to me," she said, naming the Constitution and the Declaration as documents of deep personal significance. With the country nearing its 250th anniversary of independence, her words carry a particular resonance — a reminder that founding ideals are not only civic abstractions but inheritances passed through bloodlines and choices.
Sedgwick's career stretches back to her teenage years on "Another World," through film roles in "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Lemon Sky" — where she met Kevin Bacon, who would become her husband in September 1988. Together they raised two children, Travis and Sosie, with a deliberate commitment to keeping them out of the celebrity machinery. No premieres, no press, no early exposure to their parents' films. Bacon has described the choice as an attempt to give their children something resembling a normal identity, even as he wonders aloud whether it was difficult for them in ways they haven't yet said.
Both children eventually found their own ways into creative life — Travis as the frontman of an industrial metal band, Sosie as an actress with credits in "Mare of Easttown" and "Smile." As Sedgwick now speaks about what the Declaration means to her, she is drawing on two kinds of legacy at once: the historical one linking her to the nation's founding, and the quieter one she and Bacon have spent nearly four decades building together — a family shaped by the question of what is worth passing down, and how.
Kyra Sedgwick sat down with the hosts of "Today" to talk about her new film, but the conversation turned toward something deeper: her family's place in American history. The 60-year-old actress revealed that one of her ancestors, William Ellery, was among the signers of the Declaration of Independence—a fact she carries with a sense of weight and responsibility.
"As an American, democracy means a lot to me," Sedgwick said during the appearance. "The Constitution means a lot to me. And the Declaration of Independence is obviously what it's based on." She spoke of Ellery as a lawyer and a figure of consequence, part of that original cohort of men who drafted the nation's founding document. The knowledge that her bloodline connects to that moment, she explained, "means a lot"—not as a casual boast, but as something that shapes how she understands her own place as a citizen.
The timing of her remarks carries its own significance. The country is approaching the 250th anniversary of independence, a milestone that has begun to draw Americans back toward their founding documents and the people who shaped them. For Sedgwick, the approaching anniversary seems to have prompted reflection on what those documents actually represent and why they still matter.
Sedgwick's career has spanned decades. She began as a teenager on the soap opera "Another World," then moved into film work—roles in "Kansas," "Born on the Fourth of July," and "Lemon Sky." It was on the set of "Lemon Sky" that she met Kevin Bacon, the actor who would become her husband. The two dated for several years before marrying in September 1988. They have two adult children together: Travis, now 36, and Sosie, 34.
Bacon and Sedgwick made a deliberate choice early in their parenting: they would shield their children from the machinery of celebrity. Their kids did not attend premieres, did not watch their parents' films, did not see articles about them in the press. "We really avoided it," Bacon explained in an interview last year. "I think we really felt like it would be nice for them to have some…we knew how weird this life was." The couple wanted their children to develop their own identities, separate from the spotlight that had defined their own adult lives.
As the children grew older, they made their own choices about whether to enter the entertainment world. Their son became the frontman of the industrial metal band CONTRACULT Collective. Their daughter, Sosie, followed her parents into acting, appearing in "Mare of Easttown," "13 Reasons Why," and "Smile." Both have attended red carpet events with their parents over the years. Bacon has reflected on the parenting choice with some uncertainty, telling his children that if the experience was difficult, they should feel free to say so. "I keep telling them, 'It had to have been hard for you. Please, tell me. I want to know,'" he said. But his children, he noted, have not taken him up on the invitation to complain.
Now, as Sedgwick speaks about the Declaration of Independence and what it means to her as an American, she is also speaking from a place of established family legacy—not just the historical one that connects her to William Ellery, but the one she and Bacon have built together over nearly four decades of marriage. The conversation about founding documents and democratic values becomes, in its own way, a conversation about what gets passed down and why.
Notable Quotes
As an American, democracy means a lot to me. The Constitution means a lot to me. And the Declaration of Independence is obviously what it's based on.— Kyra Sedgwick
We really avoided it. I think we really felt like it would be nice for them to have some…we knew how weird this life was.— Kevin Bacon, on keeping their children away from fame
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When Sedgwick talks about William Ellery signing the Declaration, what do you think she's really saying?
She's saying that history isn't abstract to her—it's in her blood. It's not just something she learned in school. It's personal.
But does she actually know much about Ellery himself, or is it more about the idea of him?
The source suggests she knows he was a lawyer and calls him "amazing," but she doesn't go deep into his life or work. It seems more about the weight of the connection than the details.
Why do you think she brought this up now, on a talk show?
The 250th anniversary is coming. It's a moment when Americans are thinking about founding documents again. For her, it's a chance to say: this matters to me, not just as an actress, but as someone whose family was there at the beginning.
There's something interesting about her and Kevin Bacon keeping their kids away from fame, then talking about the Declaration. Are those connected?
Maybe. Both are about what you choose to pass down and what you choose to protect. They protected their children from the machinery of celebrity. She's honoring the legacy of the Declaration—a different kind of inheritance.
Do you think her kids know about William Ellery?
That's the question, isn't it? We don't know. But it's the kind of thing a parent might tell their children when they're old enough to understand what it means.