“Kevin Costner: A Classic Heartthrob Seeking His Last Great Role”
Kevin Costner: From Hollywood Glory to a New Frontier
Once the shining star of the 1980s and 1990s, Kevin Costner hit rock bottom with the infamous Waterworld, launching a 30-year journey to reclaim his place in Hollywood. He was originally slated to star alongside Glenn Close and Kevin Kline in The Big Chill (1983), only to end up as a corpse featured for mere seconds. Fast forward six years, and he had become one of Hollywood’s biggest names, with a string of hits like The Bodyguard, A Perfect World, JFK, and Dances with Wolves.
However, the tide turned with Waterworld (1995), where audiences were less than thrilled to see him in scenes involving drinking his own urine and using gills. This colossal flop marked the end of his reign, relegating him to “dad cinema” and supporting roles that leaned heavily on nostalgia.
A resurgence came with the hit TV series Yellowstone, which became a cultural touchstone for middle-aged audiences. Now, as he approaches 70, Costner is stepping back behind the camera with Horizon: An American Saga, an ambitious western epic. To fund the project, he even took out a mortgage on a plot of land intended for his family home. At the Cannes Film Festival, he quipped, “When I started making films, they didn’t pay me anything; then they paid me a lot, and now I have to pay.”
Costner’s deep connection to Westerns stems from his roots as a descendant of European immigrants who settled the Great Plains. Raised in California, he spent his childhood moving around due to his father’s job with an electrical company. A standout athlete in basketball and baseball, he found his true passion in storytelling. Just before enrolling in business school, he had a pivotal conversation with himself that led him to pursue acting. A chance encounter with Richard Burton on a plane solidified his dream; Burton’s words, “To be happy, we must fight for our dreams,” inspired Costner to make the leap to Hollywood.
Before landing his first acting role, Costner juggled various jobs, including working as a tour guide and truck driver. During one of those gigs, he encountered a group of electricians who, in an odd twist of gratitude, offered him cocaine. Costner, focused on his goal of buying his first house, turned down the offer, illustrating his conservative upbringing and commitment to staying on the straight and narrow despite Hollywood’s temptations. Though often seen as a conservative in the industry, he has publicly supported Democratic figures like Barack Obama and Pete Buttigieg.
Costner’s early Hollywood experience also taught him about the harsh realities of the profession. In The Big Chill, he was cast as a character featured in flashbacks, but ultimately, the director decided to cut his performance entirely, leaving only the scars on his wrists as a haunting reminder of his role.
As Costner embarks on this new chapter with Horizon, he remains a testament to resilience in an industry that can be unforgiving.
