The 25 best roles of Kevin Costner’s career

Although he had several prior film credits, Kevin Costner’s breakout was the 1985 Western “Silverado.” Directed, produced and co-written by Lawrence Kasdan, “Silverado” features Costner as Jake, a goofy cowboy who evades authorities with the help of his brother Emmett, played by veteran actor Scott Glenn. The generally acclaimed movie also stars Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Rosanna Arquette, Brian Dennehy, John Cleese and Jeff Goldblum, but it was Costner who particularly impressed Glenn, who was only half-joking when he routinely referred to Costner on-set as “Movie Star.”

“Silverado” was a nice breakout, but “The Untouchables” was the first big-budget film to give Kevin Costner a shot as a leading man. Starring in the gangster movie as real-life Bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness, Costner appears alongside Sean Connery, Andy Garcia and Robert De Niro, the latter of whom portrayed Al Capone, Ness’ nemesis. Brian De Palma’s period piece netted four Academy Awards and a Best Supporting Actor win for Connery, with most of the cast — Costner included — receiving heaps of praise for their performances.

“No Way Out” was Costner’s second starring role in a row, and his second critically acclaimed hit. Loosely based on Kenneth Fearing’s 1946 novel “The Big Clock,” “No Way Out” has Costner playing Navy Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell, a man on the run from government authorities trying to frame him for the murder of his lover, who was also the lover of his supervisor, the U.S. Secretary of Defense. However, all may not be as it seems in this Cold War-era thriller that is packed with twists and has a cast that also features Gene Hackman, Will Patton and Sean Young.

Kevin Costner is a lifelong baseball fan, and although his first baseball film (1982’s “Chasing Dreams”) was a flop, the next one, “Bull Durham,” was a bona fide home run at the box office and in most critics’ minds. Veteran minor league backstop “Crash” Davis (Costner) gets demoted to the lowest level to mentor a young fireballer (Tim Robbins) in this 1988 romantic sports comedy by director, writer and former minor leaguer Ron Shelton. Costner’s character ends up falling for Robbins’ flame, a “baseball groupie” played by Susan Sarandon. Although Sarandon eventually chooses the charismatic catcher played by Costner, it’s Robbins who won in real life: After meeting during filming, Robbins and Sarandon began a relationship that lasted more than 20 years and blessed them with two kids.

On the heels of a successful baseball film, Costner’s next movie was…another successful baseball film. We’re talking of course about the 1989 fantasy sports movie “Field of Dreams,” which starred Costner as Ray Kinsella, a man who builds a baseball field on his corn farm after a mysterious voice tells him to do so. Based on the W.P. Kinsella book “Shoeless Joe,” “Field of Dreams” also starred Amy Madigan, Gaby Hoffman, James Earl Jones and Ray Liotta, with the latter playing blacklisted Chicago White Sox player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. In addition to earning heaps of praise and $84 million at the box office, “Field of Dreams” is considered one of the greatest sports films ever made.

Directed, produced and starring Kevin Costner in his directorial debut, “Dances with Wolves” was also the debut film of Tig Productions, a company founded and owned by Costner. And what a double debut it was, as the Western epic earned six Golden Globe and a dozen Academy Award nominations, winning three at the former (Best Picture, Director and Screenplay) and seven at the latter (Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Score, Editing, Cinematography and Sound). Also an overwhelming financial success, “Dances with Wolves” earned a whopping $424 million at the box office.

In 1991, Oliver Stone released “JFK,” an incredibly accurate depiction of the events surrounding the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the subsequent investigation. Just kidding! Stone’s portrayal of the events is wracked with controversial accusations and conspiracy theories but nevertheless received critical acclaim both as a whole and for Costner’s leading performance as real-life New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. Featuring a star-studded cast that also included Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon and Gary Oldman, “JFK” nabbed eight Academy Award nods (with two wins) and a Golden Globe for Best Director.

If you don’t take the ‘90s interpretation of Robin Hood, “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” too seriously, it’s actually pretty amusing. (I mean, it takes place in England, and Costner doesn’t even attempt an accent. Hilarious!) Sure, Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Morgan Freeman as Azeem outshine Costner’s Robin of Locksley, but he holds his own, even in the action sequences. And although the film also features Christian Slater in addition to Rickman and Freeman, it was Costner’s 1991-level star power that brought in nearly $400 million at the box office.

Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner starring in a romantic drama about a singer and the bodyguard tasked with protecting her life? Sign us up. “The Bodyguard” had a recipe for success from the beginning and did not disappoint, especially for fans of the late Houston. Her songs on the film’s soundtrack (most notably “I Will Always Love You”) nabbed two Oscar nominations and four Grammy nods, winning three at the latter ceremony, including Album of the Year. Costner did his part for the film, playing the stern but troubled protector with a colorful past and a heart of gold.

One of director Clint Eastwood’s most underrated films, “A Perfect World” stars Costner as an escaped convict from a Texas penitentiary who takes a young boy (T.J. Lowther) hostage as he flees. Easily the best parts of the film were Costner’s quietly cool character and the chemistry between him and his 8-year-old co-star as the duo gets to know each other while evading the authorities played by Bradley Whitford and Eastwood. In a perfect world, this 1993 drama would have garnered some Oscar attention, but it wasn’t in the cards.

After flopping with 1995’s “Waterworld,” Costner returned to what he knows best: sports films — or, more specifically, sports rom-coms. In “Tin Cup,” Kevin Costner plays Roy McAvoy, a skilled golfer who never had the motivation to make the U.S. Open but finally tries after being slighted by golf pro David Simms (Don Johnson). Raising the stakes, McAvoy develops feelings for Simms’ girlfriend (Rene Russo) and decides to try to win her over as well. Thanks to its likable leads, “Tin Cup” was a box office success and generally well received by critics.

1999’s “Play It to the Bone,” a boxing comedy starring Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas, was a total bomb in almost every regard. However, we think it’s endlessly amusing that director Ron Shelton (“Bull Durham,” “Tin Cup”) invited Kevin Costner to the set and asked him to appear as a ringside extra. Even funnier, Woody Harrelson had no idea until the subject was brought up in an interview for “The Highwaymen” — some 20 years later!

In his third JFK-related film, “Thirteen Days,” Costner played real-life Kennedy adviser Kenneth O’Donnell, a crucial piece in the president’s deescalation of war tensions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although President Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) and Attorney General Robert Kennedy (Steven Culp) were both expertly portrayed in the film, Costner was the star and received enough praise to remind audiences that the actor can still hold his own as the leading man in a drama.

Returning to Westerns (and looking for some redemption after 1994’s “Wyatt Earp”), Costner starred alongside the iconic Robert Duvall in “Open Range” in 2003. Critics commended their characters’ connection on-screen as a couple of cowboys who run into a corrupt sheriff, but Costner also received kudos for his work in the director’s chair. And he needed redemption there, too; Costner’s last directorial effort, 1997’s “The Postman,” owns a 9 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Coster gets another opportunity to show off his charm in “The Upside of Anger,” this time while playing Denny Davies, a retired baseball player (of course) who begins a relationship with his neighbor (Joan Allen) as she struggles to cope with her husband leaving and the changing lives of her four daughters. Humorous, heartfelt and occasionally dramatic, “The Upside of Anger” also stars Alicia Witt, Keri Russell, Erika Christensen and Evan Rachel Wood as the daughters, but it was Allen and Costner who earned Satellite Award nominations for their roles.

People really liked Kevin Costner’s “Swing Vote” character, a blue-collar loafer named Bud whose sole vote will decide who becomes the next U.S. president. People did not really like “Swing Vote,” as evidenced by its mediocre reviews, weak box office showing and failure to match its $21 million budget. The 2008 comedy was directed and co-written by Joshua Michael Stern and also stars Kelsey Grammar and Dennis Hopper as the fictional candidates and Madeline Carroll as Bud’s 12-year-old daughter.

“The Company Men” didn’t win over every critic, but the 2010 drama about three corporate employees who come to terms with their lives after getting downsized had a strong cast that was universally praised for their performances. If you didn’t see “The Company Men” and can’t picture Kevin Coster playing a suit, no worries, because he didn’t. Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones played the execs, and Costner played a blue collar contractor who gives Affleck’s character work after his layoff. 

Despite a lengthy career made up almost exclusively of movies, Kevin Costner actually had a couple of TV credits to his name before starring on History’s “Hatfields & McCoys,” a miniseries that consisted of three two-hour segments. In addition to producing, Costner played "Devil Anse" Hatfield opposite the late Bill Paxton’s Randall McCoy, with both actors receiving award show attention. Costner ended up winning an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for his role, beating out Paxton, who was nominated in the same category at both the Emmys and SAG Awards.

“Man of Steel” director Zack Snyder said he wanted his Superman movie to be a serious film, and thus cast Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as the adoptive parents of Clark Kent, played by Henry Cavill opposite Amy Adams as Lois Lane. The action-packed blockbuster ended up wading a bit too close to being just another superhero flick but nevertheless contained noteworthy performances by Michael Shannon as General Zod, Russell Crowe as Kal-El (Superman’s biological father) and Costner.

When looking for someone to play a high school coach seeking a second chance, how could you not cast Kevin Costner? Based on a true story, “McFarland, USA” centers on Jim White (Costner), who gets a job at a predominantly Hispanic high school, starts a cross-country team and overcomes numerous hardships to eventually form a winning squad and compile a career total of nine state championships. Costner can feel good about the feel-good film “McFarland, USA,” as he produced another charismatic performance without overshadowing his younger co-stars.

Critics and audiences generally agree on two things about “Criminal”: Kevin Costner is good, and the movie is not. In the Ariel Vromen-directed thriller, Costner plays sociopathic criminal Jerico Stewart alongside a talented cast of Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. Although the plot failed to impress, “Criminal” was at least able to surpass its $31.5 million budget.

All Kevin Costner had to do in “Hidden Figures” was support a talented lead cast of Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe, and he did so admirably. While the leading ladies played a trio of trailblazing black female mathematicians hired by NASA in the 1960s, Costner portrayed Al Harrison, the fictional director of the Space Task Group and an ally of the so-called “human computers.” “Hidden Figures” earned three Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nods and a Satellite Award win for Best Cast.

Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut, “Molly’s Game,” was a big success, and he can partially thank his talented cast of Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba and Kevin Costner for that. Of course, Sorkin also penned the screenplay for the crime drama based on Molly Bloom’s memoir of the same name, and that script ended up earning a nomination at both the Academy Awards and Golden Globes, so Sorkin deserves more than a share of the credit. In “Molly’s Game,” Costner plays Molly’s father, Larry Bloom, an overly controlling psychologist. His role wasn’t huge, but the response to his performance was.

After penning the acclaimed screenplays for “Sicario” (2015), “Hell or High Water” (2016) and “Wind River” (2017), Taylor Sheridan turned his sights back to TV — where he first got his break as David Hale on FX’s “Sons of Anarchy." Airing on the Paramount Network, “Yellowstone” centers on the border conflicts between a cattle rancher (and his family), an Indian reservation and a developer seeking to buy up the Yellowstone land. Kevin Costner has been commended for spearheading a talented cast as billionaire ranch owner John Dutton (and as executive producer), yet overall reviews for the show remain mixed. Nevertheless, “Yellowstone” has been renewed for a third season, which should air sometime this year.

In “The Highwaymen,” Kevin Costner once again managed to find that Costner chemistry with his co-star, except this time it was opposite Woody Harrelson. The film has the duo playing two former Texas rangers who are hired by the governor to catch the legendary criminals Bonnie and Clyde. Costner’s character, Frank Hamer, is based on a real person of the same name, and the actor was also an executive producer on the period drama. Although the pair shined in their roles, “The Highwaymen” suffered from mixed reviews.