Kevin Costner once shared the essential components of a great story: “Surprise and humour are often undervalued”
He might look like your mate’s dad going through an eternal midlife crisis, but Kevin Costner is a very successful actor. His role opposite Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard led to many of the most iconic scenes in 1990s romance history. He fronted the monstrously successful Dances with Wolves, fuelled a generation of conspiracy nuts with JFK, and made everyone want to call their fathers in Field of Dreams.
It’s not just in front of the camera that Costner has tasted glory. He also directed Dances with Wolves, sculpting great performances by the likes of the late Graham Greene. Not only did the movie win ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars, but its star also bagged ‘Best Director’. This puts him one above the likes of Ridley Scott, David Fincher, and Alfred Hitchcock in terms of the biggest prize in the game.
Given that he’s been so successful at both ends of the creative process, it’s only natural that others would seek Costner’s opinion on what makes a great movie. This is precisely what Jon Glatfelter did. The publication wanted to know the key ingredients that go into making a great adventure story, and Big Kev was happy to oblige.
“A careful choice of settings, the creation of challenges, the architecture of dilemma,” he explained. “I think surprise and humour are often undervalued, and storytelling never suffers from either. Secrets and mystery, and the willingness to hold back information until the right time – this is the art everyone tries to master… But what really brings it all together and makes your story work is character.”
He went on to explain that, while people won’t always remember specific details from a story, they usually remember the great characters. He cited Ulysses from The Odyssey, Captain Ahab from Moby Dick, and Kurtz from Heart of Darkness (and later Apocalypse Now) as prime examples of this. “I think a good yarn doesn’t speak at you or just wait to be admired, it throws you a line from the beginning,” he continued. “It makes a connection with you, so that where it goes, you go. I think we agree that’s best done by paying close attention to character.”
Costner has played some pretty memorable characters in his own right. In terms of the ‘classics’ – the ones that are a part of our cultural tapestry – three come to mind. The first is legendary Chicago lawman Elliot Ness in The Untouchables. He also portrayed Jonathan ‘Pa’ Kent in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, acting as a guiding hand to a young Superman, while also fucking killing it as the title character in the all-conquering Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, one of the most famous actors to step into the green tights of the fabled outlaw.
Characters are the most direct way to connect with an audience. If a viewer doesn’t relate or, even worse, doesn’t remember who a story is about, then they’ve got absolutely no chance of remembering any details about the plot. Costner is absolutely spot on in his assessment; exotic locations and big set pieces are all well and good, but it’s the characters that make an adventure really special.
