Kevin Bacon likes taking risks. And few roles are riskier than that of a paedophile struggling with his urges in first-time director Nicole Kassell's uncompromising character study, The Woodsman. Although the Oscar voters have ignored him yet again, Bacon's complex performance is undoubtedly one the best of the year.

The Woodsman is one of several films [Mystic River, Sleepers] that you have been in which deal with the subject of child abuse. Is it just coincidence that you have been in this territory more than once?

I think it's kind of coincidence. But maybe there are no coincidences, I don't know. Look, being a father affects everything you do. You're so emotionally tied to these other people in such a deep, deep way and what comes with that is fear - fear of anything ever happening to your kids. Sometimes, as an actor, you get to work on those fears, you know? You get to work on them in almost a therapeutic kind of way.

Is your work often therapeutic?

Definitely. I have a theory - and it doesn't apply to The Woodsman because I don't have secret fantasies of little girls - but I do think that all human beings have dark secrets inside their souls, feelings of violence, of extreme sexuality, self loathing, anger, fear. You know this idea of someone who's in a blissful state all the time? Atom Egoyan, who I'm working with now, is a perfect example. I mean he is that kind of guy but look what he says in his films. Sometimes they're really very dark, horrific kind of stuff, and very sexually confused. In art you can exorcise those kinds of demons. If I get to go to work and kick the shit out of somebody, maybe I'm not going to do it in a bar.

Have you ever deliberately chosen a piece of work because there was a part of your nature which you wanted to address?

No, no, no. I'll look at it and say, "This is going to be a challenge. Emotionally it's not going to be easy, or physically it's going to be a challenge," certainly I've done some stuff with that, too. But no, I don't say, "Look, I have an issue with whatever so I got to play that part." [Laughs]

What was your major reason for doing the film?

I felt like when I went through it and turned the pages, I went through, myself, this series of emotions - of anger and disgust, revulsion and sadness, and then, compassion, and then anger at myself for feeling compassionate. I was very confused by the ride that it took me on. I thought if we could accomplish that and take an audience through that, it could be interesting.

Did you set out to make the character sympathetic in some way?

I don't set out to make him sympathetic because that's not acting for me. As an actor I don't know how to play sympathetic. So that's like a judgement that an audience places on it, or chooses not to. There's going to be plenty of people who say, "String him up by his nuts!"

The Woodsman was always going to be considered controversial. Does that element of risk make something quite tempting?

Well I do think that films that are done in an independent way can challenge people and that's part of independent filmmaking. And I like to take risks as an actor. I don't like to shy away from things because I go, 'Oh wow, how will people see me?' F*** that!

The Woodsman is released in UK cinemas on Friday 25th February 2005.