Kevin Costner's On-Set "Clashes" With Clint Eastwood & Kurt Russell Explained

Kevin Costner is one of the most celebrated actors of the last 50 years, but he had some notorious clashes with Clint Eastwood and Kurt Russell. Costner began his acting career in the early ’80s, playing small parts in films like Night Shift and The Big Chill. However, it was his role in Silverado where things began to take off.

The latter half of the ’80s saw Costner skyrocket to fame, and he starred in a string of hits that made him one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. From Costner’s baseball movies to his romantic dramas, the actor was everywhere in the early ’90s. However, it was westerns where he really found his true calling as a performer.

Dances with Wolves earned him three Oscar nominations, and he took home the awards for Best Picture and Best Director. He would return to the genre shortly after with Wyatt Earp, and eventually appeared in TV projects like Hatfields & McCoys and Yellowstone, which further cemented him as a cowboy legend.

Costner’s self-funded project, Horizon: An American Saga, might have stumbled at the box office and with critics, but it fulfilled his decades-long commitment to the genre. Clint Eastwood and Kurt Russell are also legends of westerns, but Costner’s time working alongside the screen icons was anything but uneventful.

Kevin Costner Was Temporarily Replaced On Clint Eastwood’s A Perfect World

Kevin Costner and his son in A Perfect World.

Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood have only worked together on one occasion, and there’s a good reason they haven’t reunited. The 1993 film A Perfect World is one of the lesser-known gems of Clint Eastwood’s career, and the actor/director pulled double duty as a hardened sheriff trying to track down an escaped prisoner played by Kevin Costner.

According to Far Out, Eastwood’s directing style didn’t always gel with Costner’s preparation method, and it caused one major blowup during the film’s production. For one scene in the movie, Costner was not ready to report to set when he was called, which prompted Eastwood to order his stand-in to take his place.

There is a brief moment in A Perfect World where Costner’s double actually appears onscreen instead of the multiple Oscar-winner. This caused some considerable tension between Eastwood and Costner, which was unusual for the typically cool-headed filmmaker. Eastwood and Costner reportedly had a heated exchange, though the details are unknown.

Eastwood is notoriously particular about time on set, and the director was willing to put a stand-in in Costner’s wardrobe than waste another moment. This is one of the reasons why Eastwood has been able to direct so many movies, and he is known for keeping a strict schedule and adhering to his budget without overruns.

Kevin Costner Disagreed With Kurt Russell On 3000 Miles To Graceland

David Arquette, Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Christian Slater and Bokeem Woodbine as Elvis impersonators in 3000 Miles to Graceland.

Like with Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner only worked on one movie with fellow western legend, Kurt Russell, and there was some friction on that project too. 3000 Miles to Graceland is an oft-forgotten heist film from the early 2000s, which casts Costner and Russell as a pair of criminals who are using Las Vegas’ Elvis Week as a cover.

The movie got horrible reviews and was a box office bomb, grossing only $18 million against a $50 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). One of the biggest reasons the movie failed was that it seemed to be woefully unfocused, which was likely a byproduct of its fractured post-production process.

Costner and Russell disagreed on how the film should be cut, leading to two different versions that were screened for test audiences. Russell opted for a more character-driven story that toned down the action, while Costner’s version was more bombastic and explosive. Test audiences like Costner’s version more, thus that was the one that hit theaters in 2001.

It’s unclear exactly how different the two cuts were, or if Russell’s version was any better than the final theatrical cut. While there seemed to be a rivalry of sorts between the two stars, they reportedly worked very well together on set, and their feud over the final cut was an amicable disagreement and not a full-blown fight.

Costner & Russell Went Head-To-Head In The 1990s

Tombstone was one of the best westerns of the 1990s, and it helped to cement Kurt Russell’s place in the western movie hall of fame. However, its production was somewhat controversial because it was being made at the same time as Kevin Costner’s Wyatt Earp, a film about the exact same legendary figure from the Old West.

Not only does that sort of compeтιтion naturally breed a rivalry, but a sign of disrespect toward Russell turned the entire process into something a bit more personal. According to Russell, he approached the production of Wyatt Earp with a clever compromise and a show of respect.

Tombstone was a modest financial success, while Wyatt Earp was a box office bomb that earned $55 million against a budget over $60 million (Box Office Mojo)

He suggested that the two lead actors cameo in each other’s movies, getting killed by the other’s Wyatt Earp. However, Russell maintains that someone involved with the production of Wyatt Earp shut the idea down with a snide comment, thus souring the entire interaction. However, Russell also noted that Costner was actually very open to the idea.

While Kevin Costner has had a series of rivalries and contentious moments on his various movie sets, the picture isn’t all that clear. The actor hasn’t gained a bad reputation, and it seems as if most of his more controversial moments were simple misunderstandings or humorous personal rivalries with very few stakes.