Kevin Costner has embarked on innumerable adventures throughout his decades-long star-studded career as an actor and has managed to bring life to his characters in some of the most iconic ways. His performances hold that extra layer of realism to them, and it seems like this is thanks to all the extremes the actor goes to just to prepare for his roles.
For instance, to prepare for the role of Jim Garrison in his thriller JFK from 1991, Costner met up with people who could help him understand his role better. During this, he also became privy to one of the greatest revolutionaries in the world who thought of himself as being one of the prime suspects of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination: Fidel Castro.
Kevin Costner was Privy to Fidel Castro
In JFK, Costner plays the role of Jim Garrison, the public prosecutor who rose to prominence with his investigation into the assassination of the 35th president of the United States of America, John F. Kennedy. To prepare for his role, he decided to meet up with people who could help him out. One of the names on this list was that of the late Fidel Castro.
A Cuban revolutionary and politician widely regarded as one of the greatest revolutionaries in the whole wide world, Castro served as the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008 before going on to take the position of the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and then president from 1976 to 2008. Apparently, Castro felt he was one of the suspects behind Kennedy’s murder.
During a recent interview with GQ, Costner confessed the same while sharing how he felt Kennedy “had so many enemies at the highest level.” He said:
And then there was Castro, who I actually talked about this personally, this moment when John was killed. He and I talked just before we watched ‘Thirteen Days’ together in Cuba. And he goes, ‘I was so afraid they were gonna pin that on me. I was terrified.’
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Well, judging from all the conspiracy theories surrounding Castro following their history during the Cold War and Kennedy’s assassination (via Britannica), the late prez of Cuba’s fear was only understandable. But to know that someone like Costner shared such a moment with Castro must inevitably be news to many.
Kevin Costner Feels “JFK was such a big loss for us”
During the same interview, the 69-year-old Kevin Costner also addressed how he felt losing Kennedy was a major loss for the country. Just like he did in the movie, the Dances with Wolves star didn’t hesitate to emphasize just how much he was on Kennedy’s side as he did so, claiming that, among all the faults, Kennedy was also a majorly influencing figure.
Thinking out loud how “JFK was such a big loss for us, or a sense of poetry, a sense of kind of intellectual leadership,” Costner went on to say:
A lot of people wanna find the faults in John Kennedy, but there was a moment in time where he was golden, when it mattered the most, when a lot of things were in the balance. And what happened was a calm, a kind of something deep. You know, don’t forget, he served in war. So for all the things they wanna say, this was the president that served in war, you know, and there was a loss.
Needless to say, his opinions spoken out loud perfectly coincide with the ones he impeccably delivered with a wobbly voice in the movie as Garrison. And, of course, all his hard work paid off to the core as the thriller/documentary from 1991 ended up being one of the most critically acclaimed pieces ever created revolving around the topic.