Kevin Costner wouldn’t film ‘The Bodyguard’ without Whitney Houston as the lead character. Costner says Clive Davis was hard to convince but he ultimately allowed Houston to do the movie.
It’s been over a decade since Whitney Houston left the world, but her impact remains unmatched. The “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” singer was already a superstar before starring in the 1992 film The Bodyguard as the lead character and Kevin Costner’s love interest, but her superstardom rose to new heights afterward. Costner recently paid tribute to Houston and gave her mentor and friend Clive Davis his flowers for the role he played in her life.
Kevin Costner says Clive Davis played a major role in Whitney Houston’s life
Ahead of the 2023 Grammy Awards, Davis’ annual pre-Grammy party was held. It also marked the anniversary weekend of Houston’s death. Costner took the stage to praise the role Davis played in Houston’s professional and personal life. And despite Houston’s premature death, Costner says Davis should be highlighted for his contributions.
“Neither one of us, in the end, could protect your beloved Whitney, but your fingerprints on her life are clean, my friend,” Costner said to Davis from the podium, per Variety. “You were a miracle in her life. Thank you for being her bodyguard, Clive.”
He also spoke about Davis’ resistance to Houston’s first role, the lead alongside Costner in The Bodyguard. But Costner says it all paid off.
“All three of us would take a huge leap of faith — maybe the biggest, the hardest, was for Clive. I needed to believe that I could make the movie that I was imagining. Whitney saw it as a chance to reinvent herself,” Davis added. “But for Clive, it was a career move that had a recipe for disaster written all over it. I needed Clive. I needed his trust and his blessing. And I needed the one thing that he wasn’t use to giving up — control. All the things he’s known for, all the things he’s done for so many in this room, all the things that make him great –that would not be the ground he was standing.”
The actor handpicked Whitney Houston for ‘The Bodyguard’
Costner was infatuated with Houston from the moment he saw her. The minute he became attached to the film, he made it clear that Houston must play his leading lady. “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?’”
The Promise Clive Davis Made and Broke to Whitney Houston
Costner was not joking. He even delayed production on the film several times because of Houston’s hectic touring schedule. “We postponed the movie for a year to wait for Whitney,” Costner said. For Costner, Houston was worth the wait. “There’s an exotic quality to Whitney, there’s this thing about her, and guys are in love with her,” he added.
But Costner and Houston had to prove that she was the right woman for the role. “We were obligated to screen-test her,” Costner explained. “I didn’t feel that we needed to but giving her this role in this movie, I felt that she could. Not very many Whitneys come along.”
Kevin Costner also gave a touching eulogy at Whitney Houston’s funeral
Since Houston’s death, Costner has spoken fondly about the icon. He even spoke at her funeral, giving a eulogy that lasted over 15 minutes.
