Kevin Costner sweetly recalled the relationship he established with Whitney Houston on the set of The Bodyguard. The legendary artist, who passed away in 2012, needed to feel safe during filming and her co-star acted like a real ‘bodyguard’.
Kevin Costner he is officially back in the saddle as the protagonist and director of the ambitious Horizon: An American Saga. Among the roles that made him an icon of the big screen, however, that of Frank Farmer in The Bodyguard deserves special attention. The 1992 film, directed by Mick Jacksonsaw him as the protagonist alongside the music legend Whitney Houston, who tragically passed away at the age of 48. The star, guest of the podcast Armchair Expertbriefly recalled the time he spent on set alongside the late artist.
Remember the plot of the film, which arrived in Italy with the title Bodyguard? Farmer, a former presidential security agent, becomes the bodyguard of Rachel Brown (Houston), famous pop star and actress who has long been the subject of threats from a mysterious stalker. Frank, after an initial perplexity, works hard to ensure that the diva is his son Fletcher (DeVaughn Nixon) are completely safe. At first he and the singer get along far from it but, over time, they will discover have feelings for each other. The bodyguard, worried that he can no longer separate his work from her feelings, distances himself from Rachel, who doesn’t react well at all. Meanwhile, the maniac continues to insinuate himself more and more into the life of the star, whose life could be in serious danger.
Costner, during the interview, remembered his deceased colleague with very affectionate words. He then confessed that he had strongly insisted that Whitney was cast as Rachel Marron. The actor, in fact, was also a producer of the film. “I loved her,” he admitted. “This is certainly no mystery. So I knew it had to be her.” The director, on the contrary, was quite intimidated from the presence of the singer, so Costner asked the latter not to bring an entourage with her. He would be the one to protect herin front and behind the camera.
Houston, who had also noticed Mick Jackson’s discomfort, trusted him.
I started driving it. And I wasn’t trying to usurp my director, but I made a promise to her, not to screw him. […] There was a moment when I knew when Whitney arrived. I said, ‘Look, you can’t have an entourage, but if there’s someone important to you I’ll take care of it. She turned out to be Robyn Crawford [la migliore amica della star, ndr]. I said, ‘Robyn will stay with you… I don’t have an entourage, you won’t have one either.’ And that’s how we started.
Not happy, Costner made another promise to his colleague, assuring her that the film would work: “He will always love me, in the song [I Will Always Love You, ndr]. I I would keep my promise forever.”
At that point, the host highlighted Kevin Costner’s nice gesture, which made his co-star feel safe despite the absence of his entourage. “I don’t know what it was – echoed the star of Dance with wolves — 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 his imaginary bodyguard.”
“I think there were probably real things happening – concluded the host – that really helped us with what we saw. You were really his bodyguard, that’s not even rhetorical.”
