Kevin Costner Reflects on Whitney Houston’s Life Ahead of ‘The Bodyguard’ 30th Anniversary

Whitney Houston made her acting debut nearly 30 years ago in The Bodyguard. The film starred Houston as Rachel Marron, a pop singing diva who hires a bodyguard to protect her against a crazed fan. Kevin Costner stars as Houston’s bodyguard, Farmer, whom she eventually falls in love with. The movie grossed over $400 million worldwide, spawned a record-breaking accompanying soundtrack, won Houston more awards, and made her an even bigger star. Without Costner, Houston would have never been chosen for the part as he handpicked her for the role. She initially fought it off but eventually gave in to Costner’s advances and the rest is history. In a recent interview, Costner spoke about her adoration for the late singer. 

“I knew she could handle the part but she wasn’t sure she could handle it,” Costner recalled in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “There came a moment where she had to make a decision and I saw her trust me and we had that, from that moment on. That was my promise to her, that she’d look great and be great,” he added with a smile. The movie earned Oscar nominations — both for Best Original Song. It was also praised for showcasing interracial love. 

Houston would go on to star in several other films: Waiting to Exhale, The Preacher’s Wife, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and Sparkle, the latter of which was released six months after she died in 2012. She also produced other popular films, including The Cheetah Girls films through her production company, BrownHouse.

Of her breakout film role The Bodyguard, Houston once revealed in an interview that Costner gets all the credit for convincing her to do it. “I got word that he wanted me to do this film and that he didn’t want anyone else to do it besides me,” Houston once revealed in an interview. “That intrigued me. [I thought to myself] ‘Why can’t anybody else do this film?’”

Houston finished touring for her “I’m Your Baby Tonight” album before filming began, which stalled the process. “We postponed the movie for a year to wait for Whitney,” Costner said. But she was worth it to him. “There’s an exotic quality to Whitney, there’s this thing about her and guys are in love with her,” he added.