Kevin Costner Says ‘I’m Not Going to Lose Myself’ While ‘Dealing with’ Aftermath of Divorce

Kevin Costner and ex-wife Christine, who share three kids, officially finalized their divorce in February

Kevin Costner is keeping true to himself after his divorce with ex-wife Christine and taking financial risks on his Hollywood endeavors.

The actor-director, whose new multi-part epic Horizon: An American Saga premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival May 19, said in a GQ cover story that the $38 million personal investment he made in his new film is not related to the end of his marriage with Christine, who filed for divorce in May 2023.

"I’m not going to lose myself. I’ve taken big bites out of life, life’s taken big ones out of me, right?" Costner, 69, said. "I’m not going to lose myself because I’ve been bruised. I have been, but I’m not going to lose myself."

Costner told GQ he identified with the character Ahab from Moby Dick and its 1956 film adaptation for Ahab's obsession with the titular whale, though he said he differs in that he "take[s] nobody down with me."

"And what I’m going to do is — because we are now after the white whale, okay? So I can’t let go of this rope no matter how much my heart’s on the ground, no matter how broken I may be on a daily basis, I can’t let go of this rope because if I do, this thing called Horizon will stop," he continued.

Costner noted that while the movie is "not more important than the other things in my life," he feels responsible for those who have agreed to work on the multi-film saga.

Related: Kevin Costner Moved to Tears by 10-Minute Standing Ovation for Passion Project Horizon in Cannes: 'I’ll Never Forget This'

"And so it doesn’t matter how much water’s hitting me in the face, I can’t let go of the rope that is this thing," Costner added.

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Costner and Christine married in 2004. The former couple officially finalized their divorce in February but otherwise settled their divorce in September 2023. They share three kids — Cayden, 17, Hayes, 15, and Grace, 13. Costner is also a dad to four older children from previous relationships: Annie, Lily, Joe and Liam.

Related: Kevin Costner Debuts Wild West-Approved Mustache at Cannes (John Dutton Is Shaking)

"Very serious stuff. And those things are very important. I have to deal with them," he told the outlet of balancing Horizon and his family life. "And I have to deal with them on a daily basis, emotionally, historically almost. And then there’s the immediate needs of children. I’m not going to list the things — I’m going to stop right there with them. That is my job, looking at that and dealing with that.”

Following Horizon's Cannes premiere, Costner said at a festival press conference that he has "knocked on every boat in Cannes to help" fund the third and fourth films in the series. Costner got emotional after the Cannes screening when attendees gave the film a 10-minute standing ovation.

Horizon's Chapter 1 is in theaters June 28, and Chapter 2 releases on Aug. 16.

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