Summary
- Kevin Costner invested a lot in Whitney Houston, believing she was the only one who could play the role of a gifted singer in The Bodyguard.
- Fans have speculated that Kevin was secretly in love with Whitney, and he admitted to being infatuated with her after her passing.
- Kevin and Whitney shared a beautiful friendship and had a deep spiritual bond, enduring past the tragedies and triumphs of their lives.
Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston were a couple in 1992's The Bodyguard. The romantic drama was a timeless moment for the star and the singer and a huge box office success.
But what fans remember the most about the movie is Whitney Houston's breathtaking rendition of "I Will Always Love You." So, how close was the iconic song to the truth of what happened between Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston in real life?
The pair developed a strong bond during their time on set. But did Kevin miss an opportunity with Whitney, like fans believe?
Kevin Costner Invested A Lot In Whitney Houston
By the time The Bodyguard hit the big screens, both Kevin and Whitney's careers were in full swing. The actor was almost a decade away from his first big break starring in Silverado in 1985. For her part, Whitney was a music superstar who already had super hits like "I Want To Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" under her belt.
However, movies were new to Whitney, who was not sure about her acting abilities. Her insecurities were clear to see for her co-star. However, it helped that Kevin Costner already wanted her to get the part.
The actor wanted her in the movie because she was the only one who could play the part of a gifted singer perfectly. Speaking at Whitney's funeral, he said:
"The Whitney I knew, despite her success and worldwide fame, still wondered: 'Am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Will they like me?' It was the burden that made her great."
Despite the singer's lack of acting experience, Kevin wanted her to play the leading role alongside him and show the world that she could carry the movie.
"A lot of leading men could have played my part, a lot of guys could have filled that role, but you, Whitney, I truly believed that you were the only one who that could have played Rachel Marron at that time," Kevin said at the singer's untimely funeral, concluding, "You weren’t just pretty — you were as beautiful as a woman could be. And people didn’t just like you, Whitney — they loved you."
Fans Think Kevin Costner Was Secretly In Love With Whitney
Kevin's eulogy and the fact that the two former co-stars remained friendly until Whitney's death in 2012 made many fans wonder if there had been more than friendship between the two. Many fans have speculated that Kevin was in love with Whitney.
In February 2012, after Whitney had passed, Kevin Costner added fuel to the fire by telling CNN that he had been, in fact, infatuated with the music star.
"She was my one true love," he said. He said he also tried to help the singer long after their experience on set when he had been made aware of her struggles with addiction during her troubled later years.
"There are some people that really love Whitney, and a couple times during the last seven, eight years, [they] asked me, would I write her a letter?" Kevin said at Whitney's funeral.
"She would always be close to me, she would always be somebody I appreciated. When someone says, will you write a letter to someone who you know is having trouble ... I did." he added before confessing, "I don't know if those letters were ever read."
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in 1992, Whitney Houston also mentioned how touched she was by Kevin's insistence that she take the part of Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard.
She recalled how he told her "If you don't do this movie, I won't do this movie."
She also talked about how she knew as soon as the movie started shooting that she had made a friend for life.
Were Whitney Houston And Kevin Costner Close?
Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston shared a beautiful friendship together and were not shy about how they felt for each other.
Ten years after Whitney's passing and thirty years after The Bodyguard was released, in September 2022, Kevin Costner honored Whitney's memory by posting on Instagram that he was screening the movie on the big screen.
"In November, 30 years after its first premiere, The Bodyguard will be returning to theaters. I couldn’t be more excited that we all get to re-experience this film and the magic that happened when Whitney stepped in front of the camera. I hope you’ll join us in celebrating this movie and her legacy," Kevin wrote in his Instagram post.
Besides their instant mutual attraction on the set of The Bodyguard, the two stars had a lot in common. At Whitney's funeral, Kevin went into some detail about their commonalities.
"We both grew up in a Baptist church. It was easy for us to laugh," he said, adding, "The church was what we knew. It was our private bond."
It appears that the two stars were not only close but shared a deep spirituality and that their relationship endured past the tragedies and triumphs they encountered in their lives—and beyond Whitney's passing, too.
