Love is in the air now but reminiscing the beautiful memories of Kevin Costner and music legend Whitney Houston might inspire you to celebrate true love. The Yellowstone actor convinced Houston for one of his films in a most romantic way.
Houston was not the first choice for Costner’s 1992 romance thriller The Bodyguard but the actor was dead set on bringing Houston to star alongside him. The music legend was also not very confident appearing in the movie but Costner had a charming way to convince the singer.
Kevin Costner Fought For Whitney Houston
Kevin Costner fought for Whitney Houston as Warner Brothers was not so sure about casting the music legend in The Bodyguard. However, when Costner got involved in the project he was adamant about bringing Houston to the project and it worked. Speaking with Yahoo Entertainment, the actor revealed how he triumphed over the opposition.
“[The opposition] didn’t matter to me. I just thought she was the perfect choice. Everybody alerted me to the fact that she was Black, which I knew. It might have been easier two years earlier at her peak. But after that movie, she became, I think, one of the biggest stars in the world.”
Houston died in 2012 at the age of 48. During Houston’s funeral recalling her in the making of the movie said, “I was reminded that this would be her first acting role.” He added, “We could also think about another singer was a suggestion.” But he was convinced “she was perfect for what we were trying to do.” Costner won and he could convince the singer to appear in the movie which elevated her career to utmost prominence.
Kevin Costner Beautifully Convinced Whitney Houston
As Houston was celebrating the peak of her career as a musician, several offers to work with movies knocked on her door. Reportedly, she had the opportunity to work with Robert De Niro, Quincy Jones, and Spike Lee but the six-time Grammy winner thought that was not the right time. However, it all changed when Costner approached her for The Bodyguard. “I got a call saying that there is a script that Kevin Costner has, called The Bodyguard, that he wanted me to do,” Houston told Rolling Stone in 1993.
“I wanted to do some acting, but I mean, I never thought I’d be costarring with Kevin Costner! I thought, ‘I’ll just get this little part somewhere, and I’ll work my way up.’ And all of a sudden I get this script, and I said: ‘I don’t know. This is kind of . . . big.’ So I was scared. It took me two years to decide to do it. I kind of waited too long for Kevin. I think it got on his nerves. He called one day and said, ‘Listen, are you going to do this movie with me or not?’ I told him about my fears. I said: ‘I’m afraid. I don’t want to go out there and fall.’ And he said: ‘I promise you I will not let you fall. I will help you.’ And he did.”
The movie claimed immense success for Houston. “People loved this movie – the critics dogged it, but people loved it,” she told the outlet. The Mick Jackson-directed movie was a success grossing over $411 million million against the production budget of $25 million.