Kevin Costner

The man who never gave up

Kevin Costner worked in marketing before Richard Burton told him on a plane that he should try his luck in movies. That chance encounter changed his destiny but did not guarantee him immediate access to the industry. For years he worked odd jobs as a truck driver and tour guide while waiting for a real break.

His debut in The Big Chill in 1983 ended with all of his scenes cut in the editing room. Lawrence Kasdan promised to make it up to him and kept his word two years later with Silverado. That role as a young, reckless gunslinger was the first building block of a career built on the everyman charisma of the typical American.

And then came the year 1987.

With The Untouchables and No Way Out, he proved he could carry the weight of a major production on his shoulders. Costner projected a blend of integrity and vulnerability reminiscent of the great names of classic Hollywood. He was not after being a method actor but a face audiences could trust.

The ambition of an unexpected filmmaker

In 1990, nobody in Los Angeles believed that a three-hour western with dialogue in Lakota could work at the box office. Costner mortgaged part of his fortune to get Dances with Wolves made. The film grossed more than $420 million worldwide and earned him two Academy Awards, for directing and producing.

That success gave him enormous clout, which he used to rack up massive hits like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Bodyguard. The latter's soundtrack sold 45 million copies worldwide. It was his golden era, but also the start of excessive confidence in his own instincts.

But the movie business always collects its debts.

Production of Waterworld in 1995 turned into a logistical nightmare that drove the budget up to 175 million dollars. It was the most expensive movie ever made up to that point, and the press pounced on every delay. Although it was not the financial disaster many claimed, his Midas touch image was seriously damaged.

Two years later he directed The Postman, and the failure was total, both with critics and audiences. Costner went from being the most sought-after actor on the planet to a secondary figure in an industry that was becoming more interested in digital effects than in human drama. He retreated to smaller projects and to his country music band.

Back on the plains

Television gave him a second life when Hollywood seemed to have turned its back on him for good. In 2012 he starred in the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys, which drew record ratings and reminded the industry of his drawing power. It was the prelude to his biggest success in decades.

The premiere of Yellowstone in 2018 put him back at the center of the cultural map, playing John Dutton. The show was so successful that it spawned an entire universe of spin-off stories and revived massive interest in the Western genre. Costner once again became the face of the rugged man tied to the land.

And the bet became personal again.

In 2023, he left the security of television to focus on his most ambitious project since his early days. Horizon: An American Saga was conceived as an epic four-film saga, largely financed by the actor himself. To cover production costs, he even put up his extensive property in Santa Barbara as collateral.

The first installment of this saga premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024 after an grueling shoot in Utah. The estimated total budget for the first two parts exceeded 100 million dollars. The distribution of the second installment was initially put on hold after the lackluster first-week results in U.S. theaters.