SOMETIMES KEVIN COSTNER imagines that he's watching himself in a film about Kevin Costner. He pictures himself in a theater; it's dark and he's gazing at himself in the same way we have over the years, rooting for him to succeed. In times of embattlement or stress, he says, "I've got to be my own movie." In Westerns, Costner's preferred genre, the hero tends to ride in, outmatched and outgunned, only to come away victorious. This often seems to be the way Costner sees himself too. Famously, Costner's first big break as an actor was being cast in 1983's The Big Chill; then, after shooting, all his scenes were cut. Before he was dropped from the film, "I had all my friends going, 'Kevin, you're in that movie. You should do press. You should ride this wave," he told me. "And I said, 'No. It'll be a more interesting story once I do what I know I'm going to do.""
Costner is a lifetime devotee of the hard way. When Ron Shelton cast the actor in 1988's Bull Durham, he tried to hand Costner the part, only for Costner to insist on auditioning anyway. "So we went from having lunch to the batting cage on Sepulveda with a bunch of quarters," Shelton told me. "And we're putting quarters in there and he's hitting line drives right-handed and lefthanded, and we're playing catch in the parking lot. Girls are walking by him. They don't know who he is. Three months later, they're going to know who he is."
This story is from the Summer 2024 edition of GQ US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Summer 2024 edition of GQ US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How New York's Social Life Went Members-Only
A new wave of private restaurants, workspaces, wellness centers, and nightclubs has taken New York City by storm. Emily Sundberg gets inside most of them-and helps us understand why so many young New Yorkers are gleefully shelling out membership dues.
COLMAN DOMING REACHED THE SUMMIT NOW WHAT?
After three-plus decades in Hollywood, Colman Domingo finally found his work validated with an Oscar nomination-and became the new king of red-carpet style. Here, he gives us an exclusive first look at Loro Piana's luxurious new camping collection, and talks about the career opportunities he's been preparing to seize all his life.
WHY IS EVERYONE ON STEROIDS NOW?
Suddenly, steroids and a slew of other performance enhancers are moving out of the shadows and into the fitness routines of a new category of enthusiastic user. Across the internet and in gyms, how did body-modifying drug use become so ubiquitous, so effective, so...normal? And can it really be a good thing?
NEW YORKS GREAT BRICK-AND-MORTAR SHOPPING REVIVAL
The clothes are glorious. The vibes are immaculate. And the options are endless. We visited five of the city's buzziest shops for a look at the summer's best new threads worn by their stylish staffs, and to find out what's driving the return of NYC street retail.
THE OUTLAW TALES OF PESU PLUMA
He grew up listening to Ice Cube and Travis Scott, unless he was singing along to the corridos that immortalized larger-than-life Mexican legends. Now, the mullet-rocking superstar is fast becoming as famous as his rap idols-and as compelling as the folk heroes he used to sing about.
LET THE LUXURY GAMES BEGIN
This summer, as athletes and fans descend on the Paris Olympics, LVMH is spending a fortune making sure its brands are enmeshed in the Games. It's the grandest convergence of sports and luxury ever-but what can it tell us about the Arnault family's broader ambitions
KEVIN COSTNER BETS IT ALL AGAIN
For years, Kevin Costner had an obsession he couldn't shake: A four-part film epic called Horizon that has so far cost him $38 million of his own money. Now, he talks in-depth for the first time about why he left Yellowstone and why he's placing one of the most grandiose bets in Hollywood history on himself.
MEET THE WILDEST CHARCTER IN THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSIC SCENE
Right now, to be the most important new voice in Afrobeats means you might just be the most important new voice in global music, period. That title currently belongs to Asake, a Nigerian singer with bonkers style and a penchant for making speaker-melting hits.
MARNI'S FRANCESCO RISSO WILL NEVER GROWUP
The eccentric Italian designer is proving that the very serious business of fashion doesn't have to be very serious at all.
WELCOME TO LAUREN HALSEY'S NEIGHBORHOOD
The red-hot 36-year-old artist has achieved global success with a very local approach: applying imaginative, laserlike focus to a few square blocks of her hometown. In doing so, she renders and reflects what it's actually like to live and work in-and never, ever leave-South Central Los Angeles.
