The Movie That Nearly Ended Kevin Costner’s Career: “I Didn’t Act for Six Years”

Kevin Costner’s rise to fame in Hollywood wasn’t overnight, and even after establishing himself, his willingness to take big risks sometimes backfired spectacularly.

His gamble paid off spectacularly the first time with Dances with Wolves, which swept awards and unexpectedly turned a three-hour western into a worldwide box office hit.

But things didn’t always go so well. After Waterworld, which was a costly gamble, The Postman was an even bigger flop. His ambitious project Horizon, a planned four-part series, also struggled — the first installment failed, and the second is still in limbo.

Still, Costner doesn’t harbor regrets. He’d rather risk failing on his own terms than succeed by following someone else’s rules — a bold approach that many admire. His breakthrough came with a double hit in 1985: Fandango and Silverado showed the star potential that quickly made him one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading men. Without that breakthrough, his earlier disappearance from acting might have become permanent.

Back in 1983, Costner believed The Big Chill would be his big break, only to be cut from the final film. This setback hit hard, especially since he had only recently returned to acting after growing disillusioned with his early roles.

He recalled, “They were casting exploitation movies, and my acting teacher asked if I wanted a role, and I said yes — just to get experience. I did a T&A movie called Sizzle Beach. Then I did Shadows Run Black, where I played a murder suspect. I felt I needed to become something more, because those movies weren’t the way. So I stopped acting for about six years after that.”

Costner didn’t just regret his debut in the 1981 sex comedy Sizzle Beach, USA — he actively tried to erase it. Once he was famous, the B-movie’s rights were bought by Troma, who wanted to re-release it and cash in on his success. Costner even offered to buy the original film negative to destroy it.

Though he failed in that attempt, he at least prevented them from inserting a sex scene he’d shot into another unrelated movie — a small victory. After raising his standards, Costner came back with Stacy’s Knights, a gambling drama he described as “decent and not exploitative.” It was a modest step up, but a meaningful one after his earlier work.