The Double Life of Kevin Costner
Premiere gets inside the head of 'Mr. Brooks,' and finds it a scary — and crowded — place.
By Kelly Borgeson
Kevin Costner is usually our pillar of dependability. Whatever we need him to do — investigate the JFK assassination, bond with Native Americans, or even lead a sad-sack minor league baseball team to victory — he's there, and he never lets us down. But in the upcoming thriller Mr. Brooks, Costner finally opens the door to his darker impulses, playing a seemingly ordinary man who indulges in a murderous pastime through a serial killer alter ego. The most terrifying fact may be that the role suits Costner just as perfectly as the others. Premiere got a chance to try a little amateur psychoanalysis with the man himself.
Premiere: The director of Mr. Brooks, Bruce Evans, said that he actually wrote the role with you in mind.
Kevin Costner: Yeah, that's kind of creepy, isn't it? You can explain this despicable subject and you think to yourself, Who wants to be a part of that? But when the writer's really on his game and the muse is on his shoulder, you realize; Whoa, what an interesting window into this subject. Then I understood why they wanted me.
What appealed to you about the character?
I wasn't dying to play a character like that. I work really hard at my acting, so I don't play a character like this to prove that I can act. But [the writers] managed to find an empathy. And that's always interesting when the public watches a movie and they have empathy. They don't necessarily forgive, but they have an ability to understand.
William Hurt as Marshall
Photo by Ben Glass © 2007 Element Funding, LLC.
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How would you describe the character of Mr. Brooks?
I think he comes off as very normal, and he's dealing with his own demons. He operates in a very normal way and actually kind of excels in that arena. But you realize right away that there's something that's a problem for him and something he's been dealing with for a long time.
That something manifests itself as a Tyler Durden-esque alter ego named Marshall, played in the film by William Hurt. Evans claims that you came up with a list of actors you thought might play that role — is that true?
Yeah. Certainly Bruce was a part of that list, too. I think you have to make a list when a role is so specific and so special — in this instance, it's the cherry role. Bill [Hurt] and I had our own connection through The Big Chill, so when we began to think about the list, I really felt that Bill had the authority and he really just became my first choice.
How was it working together?
It was really good. We both come from a world where we like to rehearse and we just really love the process. The process is fun for us.
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Copyright © 2008 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.