Summary
- Kevin Costner's decision to pursue acting despite having no connections in Hollywood paid off, leading to his success and a net worth of $250 million.
- Costner's father, although unable to help him in the entertainment industry, was supportive of his dreams and felt pained that he couldn't assist.
- After initially attempting a career in business and marketing, Costner realized it wasn't for him and followed his passion for writing and acting, which ultimately led him to stardom in Hollywood.
Kevin Costner became a permanent fixture in Hollywood after Dances With Wolves, the film he directed, produced, and starred in won seven Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture. An amazing feat for Costner to accomplish given that at the time, he had only been acting for less than a decade.
Before Costner took the path to become an actor with a reputation of being difficult to work with, however, he thought it best to work at a job that provided more stability and was less volatile than working in front of the camera in the entertainment industry.
Less than two years after graduating college, Costner landed his first role which became a springboard to meatier roles that led to him starring in films within a few years after making acting his full-time job. Quitting his 'day job' ultimately helped Kevin Costner build his $250 million net worth.
Kevin Costner Didn't Have Any Connections When He Went To Hollywood
Growing up, Costner moved around quite a bit because his father worked for Edison in California. As such, when his father received a promotion within the company, a different area of Southern California would be lived in.
While all this moving could mean chaos for a kid trying to make connections and friends, it also meant that Costner's father was very successful at his job. Because of this, had Costner wanted to go into the same line of business as his father, he likely could have gotten a job very easily.
Instead, Costner chose acting, which was a field his father knew nothing about and had no ability to help Costner make his way. Costner's father was at a loss as to what he could do to help support his son.
"I'm very close with my family..." Costner explained. "I remember my dad coming to me and saying I think it was one of the things that pained him most in his life because I think a father wants to help his son and everything..."
Costner went on to say, "He said, 'Look I feel bad about this because I have no way of helping you. I have no way of knowing what that world is. I don't know what those people are like.' So when he said goodbye to me, knew what I was going to do, all he could do was pat me on the back. I know that was a tough time for him."
Despite not being able to help Costner, both his father and mother were very "supportive" of him and his dreams and did whatever they could to help the Let Him Go star succeed with his ambitious goal of making it in Hollywood.
Kevin Costner 'Tried' To Be A Businessman, But 'Couldn't Do It'
After graduating high school, Costner enrolled in college. While he was studying at California State University Fullerton, Costner made the decision to be a business and marketing major. However, it was also while he was at college that Costner found a love of acting.
That desire to act was left at Cal State Fullerton after Costner graduated, or so he thought, as he attempted to work in the business world. But the stint was short-lived as Costner realized that working in marketing was not something that was going to make him happy for a lifetime.
"I went to college like everybody else," Costner explained on The Tonight Show. "I was in that maze, that sort of white rat thing where you go to high school, got to find a college, got to find a job... I was in that kind of mode like everybody gets into and I had to pick a major. I knew liberal arts wasn't the deal. I mean, I was smart enough to go [to college]. I might as well be a business guy."
Costner went on to say, "I was an equally dumb businessman."
"I tried. I took a job for about 30 days and I finally came home and I said, 'I can't do this thing', Costner stated. ''I can't do it'. And Cin [his then-wife] says, 'Well, what are you gonna do?' I said, 'I think maybe I'll try and write.' She said, 'You can't even spell.'"
"It was a very tough time for us but we sorted it out," Costner said.
After Costner made the decision to quit and write in Hollywood, things took off quickly for him. This was something that neither he nor his first ex-wife, Cindy Silva, who did not have a relationship with Costner's soon-to-be second ex-wife, Christine Baumgartner, ever imagined would happen.
Kevin Costner Quit His 'Real Job' And Headed To Hollywood
Costner was known to write songs and poetry in high school and college. Perhaps this is why he thought that writing would be a strong choice of career for him. However, it appears that a chance meeting on a plane with none other than Richard Burton helped to get Costner on the correct career path that would make him a star.
"He was famously volatile, he was incredibly talented, and he could have easily said, 'Please go sit back in your seat, that's why I bought all these seats around me, so no one would talk to me,' Costner explained. "But he didn't do that, and he easily could have."
Costner went on to say, "[Burton had] a gentleness with me. I was really unsure what I wanted to do with my life, and I saw him there, and I intruded on his. I had never been in a play, well, that's not true I had done some community theater, but I was really thinking I could make this a living and I desperately wanted to talk to him. The conversation never really expanded other than there was a gentleness and a kindness, and looking at me saying, 'I think you should try this.'"
Taking Burton's advice, Costner jumped in head first into trying to make it in Hollywood. While his first several films were smaller roles, within five years, his big break came with Silverado.
Each film that followed continued to come with rave reviews and a string of box-office hits from The Untouchables to Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and then the film that would change the trajectory of Costner's career, Dances With Wolves.
Had Costner not listened to what his gut was telling him, he could have wound up unhappy in an office job that never would have fulfilled him. But by understanding that storytelling was his calling, Costner's true talents were seen, and he has not looked back since.
