A multi-hyphenate! Kevin Costner has been in show business since the 1980s, wearing many hats — including actor, producer, director and musician.
The Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves star — who won the Oscar for Best Directing in 1991 for his film Dances With Wolves — has said that he doesn’t find it difficult to turn his directorial instincts off when he’s acting.
“I really am able to divorce myself of it. Because, one, I’m glad that they have the pressure,” Costner told HuffPost in February 2014. “If they want input from me, they can get it. I won’t always know what to do about a certain situation or certain problem … I’m out there every day with them, if I think they’re overwhelmed, or whatever, if they look to me, I might say something, but I don’t feel the need to.”
The Bodyguard actor became a household name in 1987, when he starred in both The Untouchables and No Way Out. A man of the silver screen throughout much of his career, Costner transitioned to television in 2012, portraying Devil Anse Hatfield in the History Channel’s Hatfield & McCoys miniseries. The role earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
The California native cemented his TV star status in 2018 when he began starring as John Dutton III in the Paramount Network’s Yellowstone, earning a Golden Globe for Best Television Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in 2023.
Costner spoke about the success of the Neo-Western drama — which has spawned multiple spinoffs — during a June 2022 interview with Entertainment Tonight.
“I’ve always said, it’s not too hard to be popular, you can do a lot of things to get noticed or whatever, but if you’re trying to be relevant in your own life, you maybe have to be doing the things you feel like are important to you,” he told the outlet. “When I found Yellowstone, it hadn’t been made. I liked the story, I thought we could do this, so the idea that it’s good — that doesn’t surprise me at all. The idea that it blew up — that’s something you can’t always predict.”
Aside from his career, the Let Him Go producer is also a family man, having welcomed seven children over the years. He shares daughters Annie and Lily, born in 1984 and 1986, respectively, and son Joe, born in 1988, with ex-wife Cindy Silva. After the pair’s divorce in 1994, Costner had a brief relationship with Bridget Rooney, with whom he welcomed son Liam in 1996.
Costner went on to marry Christine Baumgartner in 2004. The couple share sons Cayden and Hayes, born in 2007 and 2009, respectively, and daughter Grace, born in 2010.
In October 2015, the Postman actor joked about having a lenient parenting style in some regards, compared to Baumgartner.
“Chris is great about what to eat, because if it was up to me, they’d have chocolate. You know? They’d have what’s simple. ‘Put some ribs in there.’ Chris goes, ‘No, that’s not how we’re going to do it,’” he told ET at the time.
Scroll through for a look at Costner’s life over the years: