Kevin Costner says he became Whitney Houston’s bodyguard on and off-screen: "I embraced it"

4 June 2024, 13:23

He's always talked about their special connection.

When Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston filmed 1992 drama The Bodyguard together, they were more than merely co-stars.

Though their on-screen relationship was certainly romantic, the connection they established off-screen went deeper.

In fact, Kevin recently admitted that he took the role of her bodyguard incredibly seriously, as he made "a promise" to protect her.

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Talking to actor Dax Shepherd on his podcast, Armchair Expert, Costner opened up and spoke affectionately about the bond he established with Whitney during filming.

Explaining that The Bodyguard director Mick Jackson "was uncomfortable" dealing with Whitney due to her fame, Kevin revealed he "produced" her on set and that it was ultimately his decision to cast the 'One Moment In Time' singer.

"I loved her. It's not like this giant mystery. So I knew that she should be the one," Kevin stated.

After fears that The Bodyguard was going to be panned, after it didn't test well with audiences, Costner made a "promise to her" and Whitney's manager Clive Davis that it'd work out.

"She's always gonna love me, in the song. I was always gonna keep my promise to her."

Referring to Whitney as a "once in a generation talent", Kevin went on to reveal how "enamoured" he was by Whitney.

"There was a moment where I knew when Whitney came, I said, 'Look, you can't have an entourage, but I'm gonna take care of you if there's a person important to you' - turned out to be Robyn Crawford - I said, ‘Let's have Robyn with you… I don't have [an entourage] you're not going to have one.’ And that's how we started."

"I don't know what it was, but we had a moment, and I realised that the world had a higher idea of who we were, so I basically embraced it. I was her imaginary bodyguard," he added.

"It's so sweet. It works on all these levels,” the host Dax Shepard replied. "I think there were probably real things that were happening that really helped in what we ended up seeing."

"You were her bodyguard - it's not even the rhetorical."

Kevin had a deep affection for Whitney, and felt the unimaginable loss after she died on 11th February 2012.

On the same podcast, he went on to talk about the eulogy he delivered at her funeral, and that he refused to shorten it to abide by the broadcaster's schedule.

"I had been working on this speech… and I tried to compile everything I wanted to do and finally crafted this speech," Kevin said, wanting to express the reason why the pair remained close friends for over twenty years.

"Somebody said, 'CNN’s here, they wouldn’t mind if your remarks were kept shorter because they’re going to have commercials'."

"And I said, 'They can get over that. They can play the commercial while I’m talking, I don’t care," he recalled.

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Kevin's eulogy ran to 17 minutes in total, as he insisted on saying everything he "needed to say".

He was initially hesitant to deliver a eulogy, though was eventually persuaded by legendary singer Dionne Warwick, Whitney's cousin.

"I could feel the weight on her, now it’s shifted to me," Costner said. “What am I going to say about this little girl?"

"[I] went back to that church in Newark and it was filled. It was electric. There were two bands playing, the church was alive. It was like, boom!"