Kevin Costner Reflects on Working With Whitney Houston in ‘The Bodyguard’

Kevin Costner speaks onstage during the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on March 27, 2022. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Kevin Costner has opened up about his experience working with Whitney Houston in the 1992 romantic thriller “The Bodyguard.”

The film, which centers around a former secret service agent hired to protect a famous pop star from a stalker, marked Ms. Houston’s acting debut.

During a recent interview on actor and comedian Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, Mr. Costner, who also served as a producer on the movie, described casting the legendary singer in the film’s lead role despite initial objections from the film’s director, Mick Jackson.

“That was a movie I probably should have directed. I just thought somebody could do a better job. But he was uncomfortable with her,” the 69-year-old said during the June 3 podcast episode. “She was my choice. So I was the actor. I produced it. I picked her.”

“I knew that she should be the one,” he added. “So in producing it, I produced Whitney in the movie, meaning I put her there. I didn’t let the director [say] ‘Well, I’m directing, we’ve all decided places.’ I said, no, she’s in the movie.”

“I really knew who I wanted,” Mr. Costner noted. “There was a moment where she trusted me. And as I looked at her and … I started to guide her, and I wasn’t trying to usurp my director, but I had made a promise to her.”

“I had promised Whitney that she'd be good in [the film],” he continued. “And that was my promise to her. She’s always gonna love me in the song; I was always gonna keep my promise to her,” he said, referencing one of Ms. Houston’s most iconic songs in the film, “I Will Always Love You.”

Mr. Costner said he and Ms. Houston’s bond grew even stronger while making the film, particularly after he told her she couldn’t have a personal crew on set. “It was a moment where I knew when Whitney came, I said, ‘Look, you can’t have an entourage, but I’m going to take care of you.’ And that’s how we started,” he shared.

“And I don’t know what it was, but we had a moment, and I realized that the world had a higher idea of who we were, so I basically embraced it. I was her imaginary bodyguard,” he added.

Remembering Whitney Houston

Ms. Houston went on to win a bevy of awards for her work on “The Bodyguard,” including garnering three Grammy Awards in 1994 for best female pop vocal performance and record of the year for “I Will Always Love You,” as well as album of the year for the film’s original soundtrack.

On Feb. 11, 2012, nearly two decades after “The Bodyguard” debuted in theaters, Ms. Houston died at the age of 48 after drowning in the bathtub of a Beverly Hills hotel room. Although the Los Angeles County coroner ruled the singer’s death was accidental, cocaine and heart disease were listed as contributing factors.

Speaking with Mr. Shepard and his co-host, actress Monica Padman, Mr. Costner recounted being asked by Ms. Houston’s cousin, singer Dionne Warwick, to speak at the funeral service, held at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, where Ms. Houston grew up.

“I eulogized her, and I didn’t want to. When she passed away, there was a steady drumbeat to hear. You know, she was such a big personality that everybody was going on the air talking. And that was not my first instinct,” he admitted.

“I could feel the weight on [Ms. Warwick]. Now it shifted to me,” Mr. Costner said, reflecting on the atmosphere inside the Newark church on the day of Ms. Houston’s funeral. “It was filled. It was electric. There was two bands playing. The church was alive.”

Mr. Costner explained that he was well-prepared for Ms. Houston’s funeral, having spent about a week writing his speech. However, he was still hesitant to recite it, even sharing that he asked veteran television personality Oprah Winfrey and broadcast journalist Diane Sawyer—who both attended the televised service—if they would give the eulogy.

“I didn’t feel like I was the right guy to go up there, but I did,” he said.

Mr. Costner went on to deliver an emotional 17-minute eulogy at the Newark church, where Ms. Houston first began singing as a child.

“As sure as I am about Whitney’s place in musical history, I’m just as sure she came home from the first time she took center stage here as a teenager, flushed with the excitement of knowing that she had exceeded everyone’s expectations, an awesome promise of what was to come, but still needing to hear from her mother about how she was received, was she good enough,” he said during his speech, per American Rhetoric.

“There’s a lady in heaven who is making God himself wonder how he created something so perfect,” he continued, concluding his eulogy. “So off you go, Whitney. Off you go, escorted by an army of angels to your Heavenly Father. And when you sing before him, don’t you worry, you'll be good enough.”