The Western Role That Kevin Costner Once Called Perfect

Prior to 1985, Kevin Costner was probably best known in Hollywood, to the extent that he was known at all, as the corpse of Alex Marshall in Lawrence Kasdan's Baby Boomer drama "The Big Chill." Alex is the friend whose death occasions the gathering of the University of Michigan alums, and whose presence is felt rather than seen. This was not initially by design. Costner's Alex was supposed to appear in flashback, but was completely cut out of the movie by Kasdan when test audiences reacted poorly to meeting the character after ninety-odd minutes of build-up.

When 1985 rolled around, Costner had two films sitting on the shelf, a Canadian crime drama called "The Gunrunner" and Kevin Reynolds' college friendship comedy "Fandango." The former was lousy and would sit on the shelf until 1989, while the latter was a charming misfire that, because it had been disowned by producer Steven Spielberg, was dumped into U.S. theaters in January of '85 (/Film called "Fandango" Costner's thirteenth best movie). Nevertheless, there was curiosity, if not some measure of excitement, about this Costner fellow.

No one believed more strongly in Costner's potential than the man who'd killed what would've been a memorable debut. Kasdan hadn't necessarily done Costner dirty, but he knew the actor deserved better. So when he began putting together his follow-up feature, the director came back to the charismatic 30-year-old and offered him a role that, at first, didn't feel tailor-made for his persona. But Costner soon realized he'd been given a gift.

After the monumental summer of 1984 (powered by sui generis blockbusters "Ghostbusters" and "Gremlins" and the highly anticipated "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"), Hollywood had high hopes for the '85 season. Among sure things ("Rambo: First Blood Part II" and James Bond movie "A View to a Kill") and then unknown quantities ("Back to the Future" and "Gremlins"), the industry was touting the return of the Western with the duo of Clint Eastwood's "Pale Rider" and Kasdan's "Silverado."

While "Pale Rider" was a hit relative to its modest cost, "Silverado," which came on like a grand Hawksian romp with its lead quartet of Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, and Costner, grossed a disappointing $32 million in the U.S. on a budget of $25 million. The Western, it turned out, was where it had been since the 1970s: Profitable as long as Clint was on the poster.

Though moviegoers didn't turn out in droves for "Silverado," critics were generally kind and particularly complimentary of the performances. And in a cast of mostly familiar faces, Costner's spirited loose cannon character Jake stood out.

In a 2019 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Costner fondly recalled his time shooting "Silverado." "That was a really big, giant moment for me, to be in 'Silverado,'" he said. But the role of Jake didn't immediately feel like a perfect fit. As he told EW:

"I always felt that I would end up playing a laconic kind of Western character. And here came this young guy full of juice ... That was a perfect role for me. I've always known that it was a giant block in my foundation."

Forty years later, "Silverado" still enjoys a reputation as a satisfying, old-school Western with a touch of that film brat magic. It's a Western made by a Boomer who always wanted to make a Western. Costner, obviously, wound up being one of those Boomers himself with "Dances with Wolves," "Open Range," his run on "Yellowstone," and, most recently, his in-process epic "Horizon: An American Saga." Jake might've been an unexpected role, but the genre always suited him. "I had a real comfort being on him bareback and doing loopy things," he told EW. "You can't help but want to be the guy on the horse in a Western. You don't want to give that over to your double. You want to do it."