Kevin Costner has said some people disapproved of him choosing Whitney Houston to star opposite him in The Bodyguard because she was black.
The American actor and the late songstress played a bodyguard and a pop singer who fall in love in the 1992 romantic thriller, which grossed more than 400 million US dollars at the box office and has become a cult classic.
But Kevin told Square Mile: “Some people weren’t happy that I picked Whitney Houston to be my love interest in The Bodyguard.
“And that I kissed her; who wouldn’t want to kiss her?”
Whitney Houston (Fiona Hanson/PA)
Kevin, 62, suspects those critics were equally opposed to him starring in new film Hidden Figures, which tells the true story of African-American women mathematicians who played a vital role in the early years of the US space programme.
“I don’t think those people were happy that I would do Hidden Figures,” he said.
The actor said prejudice was evident when he was a child growing up near Los Angeles and still exists today.
Kevin Costner on the Square Mile cover (Square Mile)
He said: “I said the N-word a thousand times as a child. That’s how you talked.
“But there comes a moment when you choose how you are going to be yourself.
“All of a sudden, telepathically you knew that word wasn’t funny; it fell flat like a coke that had no more bubbles in it, and it was gone, eliminated.”
Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard (United Archives/DPA)
The Oscar-winning director said films such as Hidden Figures are still relevant in the new era of US president Donald Trump’s America.
“Racism is alive and well in America,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s there, and all I can try to do is make my choices and educate my children.”
Square Mile is released on February 14. For more details click here.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article