Before he was a household name, Kevin Costner got his big acting break in 1987, but only after Don Johnson turned down the same role. Looking back, it’s hard to remember a time when Kevin Costner wasn’t one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Costner’s best films include some of the best Western movies ever made, some great dramas, and more than a few iconic sports movies. He’s been a superstar for decades now, and like every other superstar, he owes it all to a single breakthrough role. Unlike other actors, however, Costner almost didn’t get the part in his breakthrough movie.
Don Johnson was originally offered the role that turned Kevin Costner into a superstar, and that decision ended up having mixed results. Just nine years later, both Johnson and Costner appeared in their first and only movie together, the golf comedy Tin Cup. Costner was actually the main lead and romantic interest of Tin Cup, while Johnson took a supporting role as the movie’s main antagonist. If Don Johnson hadn’t turned down his chance to star in The Untouchables, however, the roles may have been reversed.
Brian De Palma Wanted To Cast Don Johnson In The Untouchables
De Palma Wanted Johnson To Play Eliot Ness Because Of His Miami Vice Fame
Brian De Palma’s 1987 historical crime film The Untouchables launched Kevin Costner’s career. Costner wasn’t De Palma’s first choice to play Eliot Ness, however. In a documentary about his career, De Palma said that he originally wanted to cast Don Johnson in the lead role instead of Costner (via Entertainment Weekly). Johnson was extremely famous at the time because of his ongoing role in Miami Vice as Sonny Crockett. Johnson had already proven that he could lead a sprawling crime drama and attract audiences, while Costner was still a relative newcomer with only a few supporting roles in films like Silverado.
However, Don Johnson turned The Untouchables down. Johnson said that he felt the character of Eliot Ness, a lawman, was too similar to Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice, and he feared that The Untouchables would lead to him being typecasted (via Collider). Art Linson, a producer of The Untouchables, already felt that Costner was right for the role. After Johnson turned the part down, De Palma called Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan – both of whom had worked with Costner before – and they convinced De Palma that Costner was good enough to carry the whole movie on his back.
The Untouchables Turned Kevin Costner Into A True Movie Star
Costner Became Hollywood’s Biggest Leading Man In The Late 1980s & 1990s
Once Kevin Costner actually secured the part of Eliot Ness in The Untouchables, it was gold for his career. Prior to 1987, when The Untouchables was released, Costner had only had supporting roles in relatively smaller films. He starred in an episode of Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, he starred in the relatively successful biking movie American Flyers, and he became one of many A-list actors who were cut out of movies in The Big Chill. Costner’s character was supposed to have several flashback appearances, but he was only in the film briefly as a corpse. The Untouchables changed the trajectory of Costner’s entire career.
After The Untouchables, Costner was the H๏τtest actor in Hollywood. In the next two years, Costner starred in two of the best baseball movies ever made: Bull Durham and Field of Dreams. A year later, he starred in arguably his magnum opus, Dances with Wolves. From there, it was a cakewalk. Costner simply couldn’t stop leading hit movies in the 1990s: he starred in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, JFK, A Perfect World, and many more. Once The Untouchables proved just how magnetic and charming Kevin Costner was, his acting career simply took off.
The Untouchables Is Still One Of Kevin Costner’s Greatest Movies
The Untouchables Is An All-Time Great Crime Movie & One Of Costner’s Best Ensemble Performances
The Untouchables may have been a springboard for the rest of Kevin Costner’s acting career, but it was hardly forgotten. In fact, The Untouchables is still one of Costner’s best movies, even after nearly four decades and over 50 more movies. Everything about it is great. The cast of The Untouchables, which included Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Patricia Clarkson, and more, was phenomenal. De Palma’s direction was fantastic, and there are so many visually stunning and brilliant sH๏τs in the movie. Plus, it’s a great story about how a real group of cops took down the most notorious gangster in the world.
All of its emotional beats, its coolest moments, and the very reason the film was made was on Kevin Costner’s shoulders in The Untouchables, and he never shrugged once.
Not only was The Untouchables a fantastic movie in its own right, but Kevin Costner was also tremendous in it. He has so many nearly perfect line deliveries, from “He’s in the car,” to “Never stop fighting til the fight is done!” De Palma was also right to worry, as the Eliot Ness character is the entire foundation of The Untouchables, but Costner was perfectly suited to the task. All of its emotional beats, its coolest moments, and the very reason the film was made was on Kevin Costner‘s shoulders in The Untouchables, and he never shrugged once.
