Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner is an acclaimed American actor, director, and musician, known for his charm and versatility across various film genres. He gained prominence in the late 1980s with significant roles in films such as "The Untouchables" (1987) and "No Way Out" (1987), marking the beginning of a successful career that spanned decades. Costner's performances in popular baseball movies like "Bull Durham" (1988) and "Field of Dreams" (1989) broadened his appeal, along with his directorial debut, "Dances with Wolves" (1990), which won him multiple Academy Awards.
Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, he starred in notable films such as "JFK" (1991), "The Bodyguard" (1992), and "Hidden Figures" (2016). He also found success on television, particularly with the critically acclaimed series "Yellowstone," which premiered in 2018 and earned him a Golden Globe Award in 2023. In addition to acting, Costner leads a country rock band, Kevin Costner & Modern West, which has released several albums. As he continues to work on new projects, including a four-part film series titled "Horizon," Costner remains an influential figure in Hollywood, known for his wholesome image and enduring career.
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Kevin Costner
- Born: January 18, 1955
- Place of Birth: Lynwood, California
In a handful of popular 1980’ movies, actor Kevin Costner gained the attention and adulation of movie fans, who saw in him an attractive new face and an attitude of grace, decency, and danger. He continued that success into the twenty-first century, starring in several iconic films and television series, some of which he also directed.
Until the mid-1980s, Kevin Costner was virtually unknown in Hollywood, where some dubbed him “the face on the cutting-room floor.” He had appeared in a few low-budget movies, a television commercial for Apple’s Lisa desktop computer, and a few box-office disappointments. In 1987, however, he starred in both The Untouchables and No Way Out, and his career took off.
Previously, Costner had filmed the low-budget Sizzle Beach, U.S.A., which was made in 1974 but not released until 1986, after the actor had been featured in other films. His first lines as a mainstream actor were in 1982’s Frances, starring Jessica Lange. However, Costner’s relationship with director Graeme Clifford became strained, and his scenes were eliminated. Similarly, Costner was part of the ensemble cast in 1983’s The Big Chill (his character’s funeral brings a group of friends together), but his scenes were considered largely irrelevant to the main plot and cut. His only appearance in the finished film was a shot of his wrists as his character’s corpse was dressed. Costner’s bit parts in One from the Heart (1982) and Table for Five (1983) also were removed prior to those films’ theatrical releases. He did have a bit part in Night Shift (1982) that made it into the final film. His performances in the public-television drama Testament and the films Fandango and American Flyers (all released in 1983) also survived. None of them were hits, nor was Silverado (1985). However, in the latter film, directed by Costner’s friend and Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan, Costner’s supporting performance as a fun-loving cowboy caught the attention of filmgoers, filmmakers, and critics.
Costner reportedly turned down the lead role in 1983’s War Games and a supporting part in 1986’s Platoon, but he accepted an offer to star as Elliot Ness in Brian DePalma’s adaptation of The Untouchables, and the hit film was a breakthrough for him, as he was compared with Golden Age leading men such as Gary Cooper and James Stewart. Costner followed that project with the suspense yarn No Way Out, costarring with Sean Young, Gene Hackman, and Will Patton. He then starred in two popular baseball movies, Bull Durham (1988) and Field of Dreams (1989), broadening his appeal. “Men like him, women love him,” wrote Time magazine movie critic Richard Corliss in 1989. By the end of the decade, Costner was bankable enough to begin pre-production work and to scout locations for Dances with Wolves (1990), his directorial debut. The film would earn him a best actor Oscar nomination, as well as the Academy Award for best director, cementing his place in Hollywood.
Costner found continued success throughout the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first century. Particular standout performances in the 1990s included roles in JFK (1991) and The Bodyguard (1992), and Costner returned to the director's chair with The Postman, a 1997 film about the post-apocalypse in which Costner also starred. Following the turn of the century, Costner appeared in Open Range (2003), Mr. Brooks (2007), Man of Steel (2013), Three Days to Kill (2014), Hidden Figures (2016), Molly's Game (2017), and Let Him Go (2020), among other films.
Costner also found success in television during this period. His television work included Hatfields and McCoys, a 2013 limited series based on the historic feud for which Costner won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in the starring role of William Anderson Hatfield. Beginning in 2018, he starred in Yellowstone, a well-reviewed and wildly popular series on Paramount centered on a powerful ranching family located near Yellowstone National Park in Montana. Following the initial success of the show, Yellowstone was renewed for several more seasons and served as the source material for a 2022 prequel series titled 1883. Costner received a Golden Globe Award for best actor for his role in Yellowstone in 2023, but that year it was announced that the series would end following its fifth season, airing later that year, and that a sequel series would be created but that Costner would be leaving the show. Costner turned attention to his four-part film project, Horizon, the first two parts of which were planned to release in summer of 2024. In addition to cowriting the Western epic set during the Civil War, Costner was directing, producing, and starring in the films, similar to his involvement in Dances with Wolves.
In addition to acting, Costner headed a country rock band, Kevin Costner & Modern West, that recorded several albums, including Untold Truths (2008), From Where I Stand (2011), and albums with music inspired by his television series Hatfields and McCoys and Yellowstone. The band also toured around the world throughout the early 2000s.
Impact
Kevin Costner made it acceptable for cinema’s leading men to be wholesome and even old-fashioned after his 1980 breakthrough following years of near-anonymity. After his initial success, Costner demonstrated a staying power uncommonly seen in the film industry.
Bibliography
Caddies, Kelvin. Kevin Costner: Prince of Hollywood. London: Plexus, 1992.
Costner, Kevin. “Kevin Costner Revisits the American West, Now by Helicopter.” Interview by Kathryn Shattuck. The New York Times, 8 Jun. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/arts/television/kevin-costner-interview.html. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Foote, Jennifer. “Hollywood’s Maverick Hero.” Newsweek 113, no. 17 (April 24, 1989): 72-73.
Hibberd, James. "Why Kevin Costner's 'Horizon' Movies Are Being Released Just Two Months Apart." The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Oct. 2023, www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/kevin-costners-horizon-movies-released-trailer-1235614233/. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Keith, Todd. Kevin Costner: The Unauthorized Biography. London: ikonprint, 1991.
Thompson, Anne. "Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon’ May Cost Him Everything, but ‘I Don’t Want to Have to Answer to Anybody’." IndieWire, 21 May 2024, www.indiewire.com/news/festivals/kevin-costner-interview-horizon-cannes-1235006854/. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Worrell, Denise. “Hollywood Rediscovers Romance.” Time 130, no. 10 (September 7, 1987): 72-73.