Singer, Actress, and model Whitney Houston was already a global mega-star by 1990. She had a string of hit records and was crowned “The Voice” by fans and critics. It made sense for her to make a foray into acting, and The Bodyguard was the perfect film. Originally written for Diana Ross in the ’70s, it got floated around for decades until it landed its lead actress in Houston.
Despite becoming one of her biggest projects to date, Houston initially turned it down. She did not want to kick off her acting career with a starring role and worried people would “dog” her before she got to do the job. Kevin Costner was already attached to the film and refused to do it with anyone but Whitney.
He reportedly waited a year for her to accept and even called her personally and promised to coach her through the role. “We postponed the movie for a year to wait for Whitney,” Costner said at the time. “There’s an exotic quality to Whitney, there’s this thing about her, and guys are in love with her.”
Whitney has stated how his passion for her to be in the role is what most attracted her to the movie. “I got word that he wanted me to do this film and that he didn’t want anyone else to do it besides me. That intrigued me. [I thought] ‘Why can’t anybody else do this film?’”Costner has admitted to being very fond of Houston prior to shooting and falling for her while making the movie. Their chemistry was very apparent on the screen, and they became really great friends following the movie. He wrote her letters often and even spoke at her funeral.
Kevin Costner Has Been Married To Christine Baumgartner For 18 Years
Despite having very clear and apparent emotions for Houston, Kevin Costner was already a married man when he filmed The Bodyguard. His wife, Cindy Costner, was with him before his big break in “Dances With Wolves.” Cindy acted as well and appeared in “Wolves,” but never on the same level as her husband.
They were married 16 years and shared three children. Unfortunately, Kevin did not cope well with fame and began to change while his career was taking off. Cindy accused him of being unfaithful and was not happy about his obsession over Houston. Reports at the time say that Costner was head over heels for Houston and that it was very apparent on and off set.
