Kevin Costner names the best actor he’s ever worked with
Since his break-out starring roles in the late 1980s with films like The Untouchables and Bull Durham, Kevin Costner enjoyed a hugely successful period as a leading man that lasted well into the 2010s. Like many actors, as they age, he began to take a step back and play more supporting roles, but Paramount’s Yellowstone has seen Costner triumphantly reprise a leading role as John Hutton III in the extremely popular western series that has seen three spin-off series, with another two in development.
No stranger to the western genre, Costner is currently directing his own, but as an actor in a career spanning over four decades, Costner’s profession has seen him share the screen with numerous other acting legends, including the likes of Dennis Hopper in the 1995 movie Waterworld, Sean Connery and Robert De Niro with Untouchables, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins in Bull Durham, and even Whitney Houston with The Bodyguard.
With such an extensive filmography and list of talented co-stars, you’d think that reaching a definitive answer on who was the best would be difficult, but on an episode of The Rich Eisen Show, that’s exactly what Costner did.
“People ask all the time who was the best actor, who was the biggest star,” Costner said after being prompted by the host Rich Eisen. “The line is long for the great actors that I’ve been able to work with, really, but I would say, probably, that Gene [Hackman] was the best actor I’ve ever worked with.”
Referring to the 1987 political thriller No Way Out, in which Costner played a Lieutenant Commander alongside Gene Hackman’s Secretary of Defense, the Yellowstone actor went on to recall a specific story involving himself, the director and the greatest actor that he’s worked with.
During a particular scene over which Costner and the director Roger Donaldson “butted heads”, in which the actor felt it was important to his character to stay in a certain spot on the set, the production crew asked: “Well, what’s Gene going to do?”, referring to the impact Costner’s decision might have had on Hackman’s character. Costner simply responded: “Gene will figure out what to do,” before clarifying for Eisen and the audience: “Because he’s really good”.
Costner went on to explain how at the end of the day, walking to his car to leave the shoot, Hackman confronted him. Terrified that he was going to be reprimanded by one of his heroes for being difficult or for perhaps dragging him into the altercation, Hackman instead surprised him by showing gratitude.
“He looked at me and said, ‘When I saw you fighting for what you wanted today, it reminded me about how I used to feel about acting’,” said Costner. “‘It was good what you did.’ And he just got in his car and drove off!”
Watch Costner recount the story below.
