Kevin Costner, the guest on this year’s Cannes Film Festival live episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, is one of the most admired actors and filmmakers of his time, and has been for some 40 years, with credits to his name including The Untouchables, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, JFK, The Bodyguard, Hatfiels & McCoys and Yellowstone.
This week, the two-time Oscar winner, 69, came to Cannes to premiere the first installment of what is arguably his most ambitious project yet: Horizon, a four-film Western epic that he co-wrote, produced, directed, stars in and largely self-financed — indeed, he contributed $38 million of the $100 million total budget. (Warner Bros. will release Chapter 1 on June 28 and Chapter 2 on Aug. 16.)
But first, he stopped by the Campari Lounge in the Palais to record, in front of a live audience, an in-depth conversation about his entire life and career — from his humble beginnings in Compton to getting cut out of The Big Chill to memorable interactions with Richard Burton and Burt Lancaster; his candid thoughts on Waterworld, what is keeping him from returning to Yellowstone and why he decided to risk a chunk of his “pile” on Horizon; plus much more.