“I’m not gonna take that away from him”: Kevin Costner Willingly Gave up a Once in a Lifetime Opportunity on a $135 Million Movie to Fulfill Clint Eastwood’s Wish
American actor and film producer, Kevin Costner, is a celebrated face in the industry for his roles in Yellowstone, The Untouchables, and Open Range. He also played the role of an escaped convict, Butch Haynes, in the 1993 thriller-crime movie, A Perfect World.
However, Costner had the chance to shoulder an even bigger responsibility that he sacrificed for his fellow actor, Clint Eastwood. The Yellowstone actor surely has a heart of gold for what he did for his former actor. Declining a lifetime opportunity is bound to be hard, but Costner made the sacrifice.
Kevin Costner Sacrificed a Lifetime Opportunity Without Any Regrets for The Unforgiven Star
The 69-year-old American actor shared the screen with Clint Eastwood in the 1993 thriller movie, A Perfect World. The movie was directed by Eastwood and earned $131 million (via Box Office Mojo). What’s interesting here is that the Million Dollar Baby actor wasn’t the only choice to be the director of the movie.
A Perfect World follows Costner in the role of an escaped convict Robert ‘Butch’ Haynes, who kidnaps a young boy named Philip ‘Buzz’ Perry and plans to escape on the road with him while Clint Eastwood plays the role of the Texas Ranger Chief ‘Red’ Garnett.
The makers of the movie offered the position of director to Kevin Costner, which was a great opportunity for the actor to flourish in the industry since he would be directing Eastwood, who is an Oscar-winning actor.
However, he didn’t take up the offer and dropped the chance to become the director for the sake of Eastwood. In an interview with PEOPLE, Costner said:
I was gonna direct it and they said that you know, Clint had it and they were willing to let me direct it and I said I’m not gonna take that away from him.
Although Costner missed the chance to direct the $135 million movie, he surely won the hearts of everyone with his spirit. Although the movie was not a huge commercial success, it is considered one of Eastwood’s best works.
Kevin Costner Recalls Working with Late Actor Sean Connery
Costner is a gem of a person for how he talks about his fellow actors in the interviews. Not just Eastwood, he also praised Sean Connery very highly. In the interview with PEOPLE, Costner was talking about his 1987 movie, The Untouchables.
Costner shared the screen with Sean Connery in the movie and recalled in the interview that it was really an amazing experience for him to spend time with the Scottish actor. He believes that Connery is the biggest star he has ever worked with.
The biggest star I have ever worked with, who was a very gifted film actor was Sean Connery.
Costner also mentioned that he loved how Connery used to call him Mr. Nash. It looks like the Man of Steel actor had a great time working with his co-star.
The Untouchables is available for renting on Amazon Video and A Perfect World is available for renting and buying on Amazon Video.
