An actor whose career has survived and thrived across five different decades of Hollywood hits, with a barrage of hits through the 1980s and ‘90s, Kevin Costner is the kind of celebrity whose legacy has already been cemented, yet also seems like his career won’t ever ride off into the sunset. Perhaps it’s because two of his biggest projects in terms of popularity (Yellowstone) and scope (Horizon: An American Saga) are also among his most recent. But what does the actor/filmmaker say about potentially hanging up his hat?
Thankfully, it sounds like fans will be enjoying his talents for many years to come, as the 70-year-old Costner sounds as confident about avoiding retirement as he does about finishing his four-part western epic. Speaking with People, Costner shared why he thinks the concept of retirement will remain elusive in the foreseeable future, saying:
I don’t even think about retiring, because I’ll just move to the next thing that captures my imagination. [My] imagination is what determines what I do, not a boss. I think we’re all different and we have different things happening for us.
By and large, Costner has long been at the career level where he can comfortably take the films and series he feels most confident in, making just about everything he does something of a passion project. That no doubt has an effect on how he sees things going, where his imagination is the limit.
To that end, the Jonathan Kent portrayer is fully aware that not all actors are able to boast that claim, and doesn’t take it for granted. He continued:
I’ve felt really lucky in my life. I’d like to think that I worked for all of it, but not everybody can live by the same blueprint.
By all means, I feel like the group of those who’d love to retire early would far outnumber those who would like to work their entire lives. Perhaps that’s pessimistic or naive on my part, or perhaps I just don’t know enough dudes like Kevin Costner. Or any, I guess.
In any case, though he ended up backing out of Yellowstone‘s final episodes to continue making Horizon a reality., Costner has been as busy as ever in recent years on the historical and unscripted sides of the industry on projects such as Yellowstone: One-Fifty, The Grey House, From Yellowstone to Yosemite and his current series Kevin Costner’s The West. Even if he’s not fronting the biggest show or movie out at any given moment, he’s still doing what he loves.
I suppose even after Costner retires, he could still potentially still play into viral moments with Jenna Ortega during SNL specials, as he did during SNL50. One cannot simply retire from being awkward on the Internet.
The easiest place to see and hear the Oscar winner’s latest efforts is by watching the History docuseries Kevin Costner’s The West, which is in the midst of its debut season, airing Monday nights at 9:00 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, all five seasons of Yellowstone can be streamed with a Peacock subscription.