Kevin Coster opens up about the early days of his career and his struggle to break through.
During a recent interview on Dax Shepard's “Armchair Expert” podcast, Costner recalled “feeling like I would never make it” when he was working as a stage manager at Raleigh Station while struggling to make it as an actor.
“Once I got through the door, I was pretty fast,” he said on the podcast. “It wasn't Tom Cruise sliding down the runway at 18. It was for me at 27, 28. I was a stage manager in Raleigh, working for $3.25 and Richard Gere and Mel Gibson and Nicolas Cage and Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn. At a certain point, [I thought] Maybe I wasn't going to get the role.”
After a while, Costner explained that he realized that actors can only make a limited number of movies in a year and that “he needs[ed] to see everything that someone had rejected.”
Costner began to think that he would not make it in Hollywood. (Getty Images)
KEVIN COSTNER BRINGS HIS NEW 'LOVE' TO THE 'HORIZON' ESTABLISHMENT WHILE PRODUCTION ON THIRD WESTERN IS UNDERWAY
While his agent couldn't understand what the “Yellowstone” star was thinking, Costner said he wanted to know if another actor “walked past something great” and was committed to “pursuing it.”[ing] That idea.”
“All actors want to have agents, but you realize that you get 90% of the money, maybe you're supposed to do 90% of the work,” he said.
Although Costner's scenes were cut from the final cut, he credits his role in 1983's “The Big Chill” with changing his life. Costner explained that when he got the role he knew “I was with the right people”, noting: “I wasn't in the movie, but I realized it wasn't going to be my last movie.”
Shortly after, he starred in the western “Silverado,” which became his breakthrough in the industry.
Costner's big break came when he landed the role in the western “Silverado.” (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
“I was prepared to play Scott Glen's laconic role, Peyton, played by Kevin Klein, because I knew this era. It was already my thing. So I thought I already knew how to do the minimalist thing. I got the guy who was furious and climb like a monkey and picking fights, and at first I thought I wasn't ready to play it,” he said. “I knew how to do this other thing. This guy was as big as the horizon, so that's how I ended up trying to play with him, which was to play to the horizon.”
Following the success of “Silverado,” Orion Studios presented Costner with a series of films they wanted him to do next, and he turned them all down. He explained that he wanted his “career to focus on something at some point” and said that he didn't feel any of those films were right for “the future.” [him.]”
After he rejected their ideas, they asked him what movie he wanted to make and he chose “End Engines.”
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“All this work I had been doing about who rejects what… reading constantly on my own, I found this movie called 'Finish with Engines,'” he explained. “I said I'd read the script and I'd do this. It was at Warner Brothers. It was their turn, so they said, 'Okay, we'll do that with you,' and there was no way out. They changed the title, but I knew how it read. . It matched the sensibility I had, so after that, 'The Untouchables' happened.”
Costner told the studio he wanted to make “No Way Out” after reading the script. (Orion/Getty Images)
The film ended up being called “No Way Out” and also starred Gene Hackman. The film was a huge success, earning more than double its budget at the global box office. He went on to star in “Bull Durham,” “Field of Dreams,” “The Bodyguard” and “Dances with Wolves,” which he also directed. The film earned him two Academy Awards, one for best director and one for best picture.
Coster has starred in many successful projects since then, most recently starring in the popular Paramount Network show, “Yellowstone.” While on the podcast, she revealed that she initially only accepted three seasons on the show, but ultimately ended up staying all five seasons.
“What happened is I just believed in the world. I knew it was a soap opera. I knew we should be in jail,” he said. “We've all killed people there. So you throw logic out the window, right? But he [creator Taylor Sheridan] He has a great ear, and he wrote that stuff really authentically, and it was a lot of fun. And he wrote my part especially well… so listen, I had a lot of fun with it.”
The actor has since left “Yellowstone” and is focusing on directing and acting in “Horizon: An American Saga.” The first two films will be released on June 28 and August 16 respectively, and production on chapters three and four is already underway.
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Most recently, Costner starred in the Paramount show “Yellowstone.” (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
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