Kevin Costner Breaks Silence on Divorce: ‘The Children Mattered Most’

Kevin Costner Reflects on Family, Resilience, and a Life Well-Lived

Kevin Costner doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the emotional toll of his divorce last year. But for the 69-year-old Oscar winner, director of Horizon: An American Saga, and father of seven, one thing remained clear throughout: his children came first.

“It’s really about the children,” Costner says in this week’s exclusive cover story, where he opens up about his personal journey and his legendary four-decade career.

Costner and his ex-wife Christine Baumgartner, who filed for divorce in May 2023 after 18 years of marriage, reached a settlement this past February. But adjusting to life post-divorce has been a process, especially with kids involved.

“You just do it,” he says. “You keep talking, keep coaching [the kids], stay engaged in what they care about.” Costner shares custody of his three youngest children — Cayden, 17, Hayes, 15, and Grace, 14 — with Baumgartner.

Divorce with children, he admits, is never easy — and it’s something he considered carefully before remarrying. “It was something I thought about 20 years ago when I agreed to be married [again],” he explains. Having experienced divorce once before, with first wife Cindy Silva — with whom he shares adult children Annie, 40, Lily, 37, and Joe, 36 — he knew the potential challenges. He also has a son, Liam, 26, from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Rooney.

In the end, Costner says, he and Baumgartner “just weren’t able to go the distance,” but speaks of her with respect: “She was a good partner, a good mother. That was my fear — and I’m living with it now. But that’s life.”

At the same time, Costner was juggling his biggest creative endeavor yet: Horizon: An American Saga, a sweeping multi-film Western epic decades in the making.

“There were so many moving parts,” he recalls. “I had money invested, films in motion, 300 to 400 people working — there was nothing I could step away from.”

Reflecting on the chaotic period, he says, “If you’re in the middle of a storm and you’re the only one on deck holding the wheel, trying to wipe the rain and salt water out of your eyes — you can’t let go. And I haven’t let go.”

Now, with the first installment of Horizon having premiered on June 28 and the second set for release on August 16, Costner is finally seeing his decades-long dream take shape. He reportedly fronted $38 million of his own money and even mortgaged property to fund the project — but he has no regrets.

“What I can say is, I’ve had an amazing life,” he reflects. “I’ve been bruised, sure — but it’s been beautiful. And I’m grateful for that.”