Trivia

Turned down a role in Platoon (1986) because he thought it portrayed American soldiers in Vietnam negatively and didn't want to insult his brother, who was a Vietnam veteran.

Spoke at the funeral of his The Bodyguard (1992) co-star, Whitney Houston, on February 18, 2012.

Once was a bus driver for tours to stars' Hollywood homes.

Turned down the role of Bill in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) to direct Open Range (2003) instead.

His favorite genre is the Western.

Owns a 165 acre ranch outside of Aspen, Colorado.

A skilled equestrian, he did his own riding in The Postman (1997).

The President of the United States role in the mega-blockbuster Air Force One (1997) was written specifically for Kevin Costner. In fact, Kevin Costner helped develop the action film with Beacon Communications and writer Andrew W. Marlowe in 1996. But Kevin had to eventually pass on the film because of work delays with his futuristic The Postman (1997). Costner called up Harrison Ford personally and offered Harrison a once-in-a-lifetime role. Harrison Ford accepted the role and has always thanked Kevin Costner in interviews for his kind gesture. Air Force One (1997) went on to become one of the highest grossing films of all time.

For his entire career, he has purposely avoided doing sequels to his films. So far, he is one of the few blockbuster stars to never come back for a sequel.

Co-owns the Midnight Star casino in Deadwood, South Dakota, which displays some of his movie memorabilia.

Has two films on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. They are Dances with Wolves (1990) at #59 and Field of Dreams (1989) at #28.

Along with Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Richard Attenborough and Robert Redford, he is one of six people to win an Academy Award for "Best Director", though they are mainly known as actors.

Although often compared with Gary Cooper, he has himself named James Stewart as the western star who has most influenced his work. As a child, he was particularly fond of the five westerns Stewart made for director Anthony Mann.

Harrison Ford later turned down the role of Jim Garrison in Oliver Stone's JFK (1991). Kevin Costner decided to take the role after a meeting with the director Stone.

Opened the Tatanka Interpretive site in Deadwood, South Dakota in 2003. The site features a bronze statue depicting the Lakota Sioux buffalo hunt. There is also a museum, gift shop, and living history of the Lakota Sioux tribe. Tatanka is the Lakota word for buffalo.

Has twice taken roles refused by both Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson. The first was Eliot Ness in The Untouchables (1987), the other was Jim Garrison in JFK (1991).

Former fashion model.

He turned down the leading role in WarGames (1983), which was played by Matthew Broderick, to play Alex Marshall in The Big Chill (1983). His role was later deleted.

His role in Bull Durham (1988) was originally written for Kurt Russell.

Got to know Richard Burton on the return plane from his honeymoon with Cindy in Puerto Vallarta, who advised him to give everything up completely if he wanted to pursue acting (1978).

Youngest of three sons of Bill Costner, an electrician and later utilities executive, and his wife Sharon Costner, a welfare worker.

Some of his favorite films are How the West Was Won (1962), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Giant (1956), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Great Escape (1963), Hombre (1967), The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Magnificent Seven (1960).

His character in Dragonfly (2002) was written with the intention of Harrison Ford taking the film role. Ford turned down the role to take a year off from movies.

In April 2006, he spent $28.5 million on an oceanfront 17-acre ranch in Santa Barbara County, California. He and wife, Christine Baumgartner, are raising horses on their new ranch.

Children: (with ex-girlfriend Bridget Rooney) Liam Costner (born 1996); (with ex-wife Cindy Costner) Anne Clayton Costner (born April 15, 1984), Lily McCall Costner (born August 4, 1986) and Joe Tedrick Costner (born January 31, 1988); (with wife Christine Baumgartner) Cayden Wyatt Costner (born May 6, 2007), Hayes Logan Costner (born February 12, 2009) and Grace Avery Costner (born June 2, 2010).

His frontal nude scene in For Love of the Game (1999) was reportedly deleted after being met with laughter at test screenings.

Before succeeding in the acting business, Kevin worked as a skipper on the ride, the Jungle Cruise, at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

Singer of "Kevin Costner and Modern West", a rock/country band which he recently founded with the encouragement of his wife Christine. In October 2007, he was on a worldwide tour with the band, including sold-out shows in Istanbul and Rome.

In his role as Crash Davis in Bull Durham (1988), he states his personal beliefs. One of those beliefs is "...Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone". In his role as Jim Garrison in JFK (1991), he plays a lawyer determined to prove that Oswald did not act alone.

Has done more baseball themed films than any other actor, except for Dennis Haysbert, who played Pedro Cerrano in all three Major League movies, as well as being in Mr. Baseball (1992).

Grew up in the Compton area of L.A.

Has founded with his brother Dan, the Costner Industries Nevada Corporation (CINC) in Carson City. This company product a Liquid-Liquid Centrifugal Separator using clean-up the oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

He and his second wife, Christine Baumgartner, honeymooned in St. Andrews, Scotland. Their honeymoon coincided with the annual Dunhill Links Celebrity Golf Tournament, where regulars include Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas.

On his and Christine Baumgartner's wedding day, there were 500 guests, including: Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Willis, Tim Allen, Don Johnson, Jack Nicholson, Mary McDonnell, David Giammarco, Michael Douglas and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Played golf several times with former President Ronald Reagan in the early 1990s.

Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. (1990)

His production companies are TIG Productions and Treehouse Films. Tig was the nickname of his paternal grandmother.

Costner is frequently cited as a celebrity Republican, although he no longer is. He did socialize and golf with President George Bush, and in 1992, the Bush re-election campaign leaked word that he would appear in a commercial for the President. Costner, then a registered Republican, had no intention of aiding Bush, according to a close associate. He was a Clinton supporter. "We had to tell the Bush campaign to stop saying he was going to do ads," the associate says. Before the 1996 election, Costner switched his registration to Independent. He gave $5,000 to the Democratic Party and attended the Democratic National Convention. Still, he continues to receive invitations to GOP fundraisers, and in February 1999, the New York Times referred to him as a Republican. "He's not a particularly political guy," says the associate.

His favorite movies are long epics with a great deal of stories.

His first wife, Cindy Costner, played "Snow White" for Disneyland.

Sioux nation gave Costner a tract of land after making Dances with Wolves (1990). Costner built a golf course on that land.

Has starred in two films about John F. Kennedy, but has not played Kennedy; the two films are JFK (1991) and Thirteen Days (2000).

Directed three Oscar nominated performance: Graham Greene, Mary McDonnell and himself, all in Dances with Wolves (1990).

He has appeared in five films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Big Chill (1983), Field of Dreams (1989), Dances with Wolves (1990), JFK (1991) and Hidden Figures (2016). Dances with Wolves won in the category. He has also directed one Best Picture winner which is the aforementioned Dances with Wolves.

Inducted into the Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

The lead role in Air Force One (1997) was written for him but he was still heavily involved in filming The Postman (1997) and suggested the part be given to Harrison Ford).

Has English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Swiss-German ancestry. Has also stated that he has Cherokee roots, but it is not clear if this ancestry has been documented.

Was in consideration for the part of Lester Burnham in American Beauty (1999) but Kevin Spacey, who went on to win a Best Actor Oscar for his performance, was cast instead.

Costner and Ford's casting choices have crossed paths many times before. Harrison Ford turned down the Jack Ryan role in The Hunt for Red October (1990) as did Kevin Costner. Harrison Ford instead made Presumed Innocent (1990) and Kevin Costner made his Oscar-winning Dances with Wolves (1990). The Jack Ryan role went to then character actor Alec Baldwin.

Is a supporter of the Arsenal Football Club (UK). In 2003, he was working in London and decided to go to a game, only to find out Arsenal were playing away from home, so he booked a private helicopter to take him to the match 160 miles away.