Kevin Costner On Whitney Houston: 'Everybody Alerted Me To The Fact That She Was Black'

In a 2014 interview with Yahoo, Costner reflected on the process of bringing the script to the screen. While he'd already been pegged to play bodyguard Frank Farmer, producers were still looking for the woman who would play his love interest.

When Whitney Houston's name came up, Costner says, there was considerable apprehension surrounding the possibility of attaching her to the project. Part of it had to do with her popularity at the time, while part of it was due to her race.

"It wasn't her 'in' moment. That didn't really matter to me. I just thought she was the perfect choice," said Costner. "It might have been easier two years earlier at her peak. But after that movie, she became — I think — one of the biggest movie stars in the world."

Today, it's hard to imagine anyone else in Houston's role. At the time, she hadn't done any serious acting and was a few years removed from her last hit record, I'm Your Baby Tonight.

Since the female lead of the film would need to play a musician, Costner said there were some differing opinions surrounding who to cast. He pointed out that casting a real actress who couldn't sing might be jarring, saying, "When you see one of our world-class actresses faking being a great singer, it doesn't seem right."

Costner relayed that, ultimately, he thought it was best that they cast an actual singer, which they wound up doing in Houston.

"It didn't matter if she was black or white," said Costner." The fact that she was black, that didn't matter to me."

The Bodyguard went on to become one of the most iconic films for both Costner and Houston.