Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Costner rose to prominence starring in such films as The Untouchables, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, JFK, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Bodyguard, and A Perfect World. During this time, he directed and starred in the western epic Dances With Wolves, for which he won two Academy Awards: Best Picture, and Best Director. He then starred in and co-produced Wyatt Earp and Waterworld, and directed The Postman, Open Range, and Horizon: An American Saga.
Costner's other notable films include Silverado, No Way Out, Tin Cup, Message in a Bottle, For Love of the Game, Thirteen Days, Mr. Brooks, Swing Vote, The Company Men, 3 Days to Kill, Draft Day, Black or White, McFarland, USA, and The Highwaymen. He has also played supporting parts in such films as The Upside of Anger, Man of Steel, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Hidden Figures, Molly's Game, and Let Him Go.
On television, Costner portrayed Devil Anse Hatfield in the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. From 2018 to 2024, he portrayed rancher John Dutton on the Paramount Network drama series Yellowstone, for which he received a Golden Globe award.
Early life and education
Costner was born on January 18, 1955, in Lynwood, California, and grew up in Compton, California. His parents were William and Sharon Costner. He is the youngest of three boys, the second of whom died at birth. Sharon Rae Costner was a welfare worker, and William Costner was an electrician and a utilities executive. Costner's father's heritage originates with German immigrants to North Carolina in the 1700s, and Costner also has English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Cherokee ancestry. Costner was raised Baptist. He was not academically inclined in school, but did play sports, take piano lessons, write poetry, and sing in the First Baptist Choir. He has said that watching the 1962 film How the West Was Won as a child inspired his love for Western films.Costner has stated that he spent his teenage years in different parts of California as his father's career progressed. He has described this time as a period when he "lost a lot of confidence", having to make new friends often. Costner lived in Ventura, then in Visalia. Costner attended Mt. Whitney High School where he was in the marching band. Costner graduated from Villa Park High School in 1973. He played baseball at Villa Park and was teammates with Dennis Burtt. He earned a BA from California State University, Fullerton in 1978. While at CSUF, he became a brother in the Delta Chi fraternity.
Costner became interested in acting and dancing while in his last year of college. In 1978, while on an airplane returning from his honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, Costner had a chance encounter with actor Richard Burton. At that time, Costner was uncertain about whether he should become an actor, and he approached Burton to ask his advice. Costner has said that Burton encouraged him to pursue acting. Costner has also stated that he asked Burton whether it was possible to be an actor without experiencing turmoil in one's private life; according to Costner, Burton replied that he thought it was possible. Costner credits Burton with inspiring him to become an actor.
Having agreed to undertake a job as a marketing executive, Costner began taking acting lessons five nights a week, with the support of his wife. His marketing job lasted 30 days. He took jobs that allowed him to develop his acting skills by paying his tuition, including working on fishing boats, as a truck driver, and giving tours of movie stars' Hollywood homes.
Career
1981–1986: Rise to prominence
Costner made his film debut in Sizzle Beach, U.S.A.. Costner played a minor role as "Frat Boy #1" in the Ron Howard film Night Shift. In 1983, Costner starred in Stacy's Knights.Costner appeared in a commercial for the Apple Lisa and Table for Five in 1983, and, the same year, had a small role in the nuclear holocaust film Testament. Later, he was cast in The Big Chill and filmed several scenes that were planned as flashbacks, but they were removed from the final cut. His role was that of Alex, the friend who committed suicide, the event that brings the rest of the cast together. Costner was a friend of director Lawrence Kasdan, who promised the actor a role in a future project. That became Silverado and a breakout role for Costner. He also starred that year in the smaller films Fandango and American Flyers and appeared alongside Kiefer Sutherland in an hour-long special episode of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories.
1987–1994: Stardom and acclaim
Costner achieved movie star status in 1987, when he starred as federal agent Eliot Ness in The Untouchables and in the leading role of the thriller No Way Out. He solidified his A-list status in the baseball-themed films Bull Durham and Field of Dreams. In 1990, he partnered with producer Jim Wilson to form the production company Tig Productions. Tig's first film was the epic Dances With Wolves which Costner directed and starred in. The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won seven, including two for him personally. The same year saw the release of Revenge, in which he starred along with Anthony Quinn and Madeleine Stowe, directed by Tony Scott; Costner had wanted to direct it himself.Costner portrayed Robin Hood in the action-adventure film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves where he also served as a producer. Costner starred alongside Alan Rickman, Morgan Freeman, and Christian Slater. The film received mixed reviews but was an immense box-office success. He then starred as District Attorney Jim Garrison in the Oliver Stone-directed political epic thriller JFK. The film gained significant controversy for its historical inaccuracies but was also praised for its style, direction, and performances. Costner received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his role. Critic Roger Ebert praised his performance writing, "As Garrison, Costner gives a measured yet passionate performance. Like a man who has hold of an idea he cannot let go, he forges ahead, insisting that there is more to the assassination than meets the eye."
He then starred opposite Whitney Houston in the romantic drama The Bodyguard where he also served as a producer. The film was a pop-culture sensation and financial success. The next year he starred as a criminal on the run in Clint Eastwood's drama A Perfect World. Film critic Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Costner seems about as pathological as a koala bear, and his gentle charisma reinforces the film's touchy-feely theme". He took the title role in the western biopic Wyatt Earp, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, where he also served as a producer. That same year, he starred in the drama film The War. The film also co-starred Elijah Wood. The film seemed to gain little attention.
1995–2011: Career fluctuations
The science fiction-post-apocalyptic epics Waterworld and The Postman, the latter of which Costner also directed, were both commercial disappointments and both largely regarded by critics as artistic failures. However, while Waterworld achieved respectable box office and some positive reviews, results for The Postman were far worse and it ended up winning five Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Director for Costner. Costner starred in the golf comedy Tin Cup for Ron Shelton, who had previously directed him in Bull Durham. He developed the film Air Force One and was set to play the lead role of the President, but ultimately decided to concentrate on finishing The Postman instead. He personally offered the project to Harrison Ford. In 1999, he starred in Message in a Bottle with Robin Wright, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film drew mixed reviews and just about broke even at the box office.His career revived somewhat in 2000 with Thirteen Days, in which he portrayed Kenneth O'Donnell, a top adviser to John F. Kennedy. The western Open Range, which he directed and starred in, received critical acclaim in 2003, and was a surprise success commercially. He received some of his best reviews for his supporting role as retired professional baseball player Denny Davies in The Upside of Anger, for which he received a nomination from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and won the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. After that, Costner starred in The Guardian and in Mr. Brooks, in which he portrayed a serial killer. In 2008, his Tig Productions company closed and was changed to Tree House Films.
In 2008, Costner starred in Swing Vote. He starred opposite Jennifer Aniston in the 2005 movie Rumour Has It. Costner was honored on September 6, 2006, when his handprints and footprints were set in concrete in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre alongside those of other celebrated actors and entertainers. In 2010, he appeared in The Company Men alongside Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, and Chris Cooper. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, and received good reviews. It was released in cinemas worldwide in January 2011.
Costner announced that he would be returning to the director's chair for the first time in seven years, in 2011, with A Little War of Our Own. He was also about to team up again with director Kevin Reynolds in Learning Italian. No updates have been released about either film since their original production announcement. He also appears, as a special cameo, in Funny or Die "Field of Dreams 2: NFL Lockout". Costner portrayed Jonathan Kent in the rebooted Superman film Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder. Costner was going to have a role in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.