*In a recent interview, Kevin Costner discussed his friendship with late singer Whitney Houston, with whom he co-starred in “The Bodyguard” three decades ago.
Speaking to the “Armchair Expert” podcast, Costner said the film’s director, Mick Johnson, didn’t want to cast Houston, CBS News reports.
“She’s really smart. That was a movie I probably should have directed. I just thought somebody could do a better job. But he was uncomfortable with her,” Costner told hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman.
“She was my choice. So I was the actor. I produced it. I picked her,” he added.
“And I don’t know what it was, 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 her imaginary bodyguard,” he said.
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“I started to guide her, and I wasn’t trying to usurp my director. But I made a promise to her,” he said, noting that the promise he made to the singer was that the movie would be a hit.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Costner addressed his eulogy for the late singer, who passed away in 2012 at 48, allegedly from an accidental drowning at the Beverly Hilton. According to Costner, he adamantly resisted any attempts to truncate his heartfelt tribute during her televised funeral.
Costner recalled being asked to shorten his speech so CNN could air commercials during the broadcast.
“Somebody said, ‘CNN’s here, they wouldn’t mind if your remarks were kept shorter because they’re going to have commercials.’ And I said, ‘They can get over that. They can play the commercial while I’m talking, I don’t care.'”
“The Bodyguard” raked in nearly $122 million, according to Box Office Mojo, and the title song from the movie’s soundtrack, Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” became a massive hit, earning a Grammy for Record of the Year.
“And that was my promise to her,” Costner said on the podcast. “She’s always gonna love me in the song. I was always gonna keep my promise to her.”
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Remember When Whitney Houston Threw Shade at MTV for Declining to Air Her ‘You Give Good Love’ Music Video? | WATCH
