Kevin Costner Shares How He Weathered Difficult Divorce: 'It's Really About the Children' (Exclusive)

In PEOPLE's new cover story, the Oscar winner and "Horizon" director looks back at his iconic 40-year career and his "unusual," mostly "beautiful life"

Kevin Costner doesn't pretend his divorce last year didn't take its toll. But for the 69-year-old Oscar winner and father of seven, his priority was always crystal clear.

"It’s really about the children," the star tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story where he looks back — and ahead — at his life and iconic 40-year career.

Although Costner and Christine Baumgartner, who filed for divorce in May 2023 after 18 years of marriage, finalized a settlement in February, navigating the family's new normal took work.

"You just do it. You just keep talking, you keep coaching [the kids], you keep interested in what they’re interested in," says Costner, who shares custody of his three youngest children, Cayden, 17, Hayes, 15, and Grace, 14, with Baumgartner.

Costner acknowledges divorcing when kids are involved can be especially fraught, and it's something he'd considered before he and Baumgartner married.

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

"It was something I had to think about 20 years ago, when I agreed to be married [again]," says Costner, who has three adult kids Annie, 40, Lily, 37, and Joe, 36, with ex-wife Cindy Silva, and son Liam, 26, with former actress Bridget Rooney. "I had been divorced once and that was rough with kids."

Unfortunately, he and Baumgartner "just weren’t able to go the distance," he says, calling his ex-wife a "good partner [and] good mother". "That was my fear and so I'm kind of living with that right now. But that's life."

All the while, Costner was also juggling his commitment to Horizon: An American Saga, his ambitious multi-movie Western epic opening this summer.

"So many things were in motion," he says. "I had this money out there, these movies were committed, 300 or 400 people working on it. There was just nothing I could do."

He adds of his balancing act: "If you're in a storm and you're the only one up on deck holding the wheel, and you're just trying to get the rain and salt water out of your eyes, you couldn't let go of the wheel. I just haven't been able to let go of the wheel."

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

Now, as he finally brings to the screen the sweeping story he’s kicked around for more than 30 years, Costner is excited about seeing his passion project come to fruition. On June 28, the first of his planned four-part saga hits screens, to be followed by chapter 2 on Aug. 16.

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Though the Compton, Calif., native fronted $38 million of his own money and mortgaged property to help fund the passion project, he's undaunted. As has long been his way, Costner's excited to be all in on something he deeply believes in, come what may.

"What I can say is I've had an amazing life," he says, considering his seven decades with gratitude. "I've been bruised, but I've had an amazing life and I'm grateful for that."

For more of Kevin Costner’s exclusive interview, pick up this week’s PEOPLE magazine, on stands Friday.

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