Kevin Bacon lets his hoagiemouth hang out on the ‘Today’ show

You may be able to leave Philadelphia. You may become a world famous actor, rich beyond your wildest dreams. And you may even become such a household name that someone invents a popular game based on your work.

But your hoagiemouth will never leave you. Just ask Kevin Bacon.

Don’t blame us — it’s science.

Bacon, a Philadelphia native, appeared on the Today show Thursday, where he discussed the Philly accent with host Savannah Guthrie in between promos for his Showtime series City on a Hill and forthcoming Peacock slasher flick They/Them. But he’s not such a Philly homer that he brought it up himself — Guthrie actually did, as her husband, former political consultant Michael Feldman, grew up here.

And that’s when Bacon hit her with the Philly drawl. And, somehow, seemed to fit in a request to his agent to be cast in more Philly-based parts.

“Yeah, Philadelphia’s a hard one to do,” Bacon said, throwing in some horrifically exaggerated diphthongery for good measure. “You know, I never get a chance to do it, though, because they don’t give me any parts in Philly. Everything I do is in Boston.”

Guthrie appeared not to notice Bacon settle into his Philly roots, and immediately asked Bacon to provide “a public service” by demonstrating the city’s oft-maligned accent. When Bacon corrected her, she said the hoagiemouth shift was “very subtle.” Even if you haven’t watched the clip, we both know that’s not true.

Check it out about 3:00 minutes into the clip:

“It’s amazing, I didn’t realize for a long time that Philly had an accent,” Guthrie said.

We ask: How?

It is a verbal battle axe, awful and fantastic all at once — a conspicuous auditory scar the city leaves on all of us just for hanging around here long enough. You can hate it, sure, but just not notice it?

Bacon’s accent, incidentally, also came in handy for the much-lauded Mare of Easttown — which he wasn’t even in. His daughter, Sosie Bacon, was, and Bacon said she often called him to just do the accent to help the show get it right. Which, by most accounts, it did.

» READ MORE: In defense of the Delco accent, on ‘Mare of Easttown’ and IRL | Opinion

“They were really trying to get it together,” Bacon said of Mare.

And while it might not seem like it, recruiting Bacon as an unofficial dialect coach is a valid choice. He grew up in Fitler Square, attended Julia R. Masterman High School, and is the son of famed Philadelphia urban planner Edmond Bacon.

Papa Bacon, the so-called Father of Modern Philadelphia, is the guy you have to thank (or blame, depending on your perspective) for city features like Market East, Penn’s Landing, and Independence Mall. But we’ll always remember him for riding a skateboard in LOVE Park in 2002 at age 92 to protest the city’s crackdown on skateboarding there.

“I mean, it’s so rare that anybody ever pays the respect to the accent of Philadelphia, [or] even attempts it,” Bacon said on Today. “Everyone does Boston all the time. I think you want to try, at least, for a certain kind of authenticity if you’re in a place.”

Finally, some truth in the media. Hopefully all those movies that take place here, but weren’t filmed in town, take notice (we’re looking at you, Shazam! Fury of the Gods). And someone get this guy a Philly part, already.