AARP Hearing Center
Three decades after Kevin Costner, 64, first laid down the law as Eliot Ness in The Untouchables, he embodies another legendary lawman In Netflix’s new film The Highwaymen: Frank Hamer, who teamed with fellow ex-Texas Ranger Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson, 57), to track down Bonnie and Clyde. In Austin, Texas, for the film’s premiere at SXSW, Costner spoke to AARP about aging, his aha moment, and restoring Hamer’s reputation.
The script for The Highwaymen is so old, it almost starred Robert Redford and Paul Newman. When did you become aware of it?
About 10 years ago, and I passed on it. I liked it, but I was busy doing other things. I never really fall out of love with things I love. It’s just sometimes the timing’s not right. When it came back around, it made a little more sense to me.
How so?
I felt like I could inhabit this role better. I was more willing to put on 10 or 15 pounds to make it seem realistic.
Your character Frank Hamer is losing a step physically. How do you handle the realities of aging?
To play Frank, I really had to act that. I’ve tried to take care of myself so I can play in my early 50s as well. But there’s a moment in time when you just feel a sense of obligation. Everything zeroes in on you. There is one guy. I’ve felt a lot of things in life spiral down to me, and I’ve gone, “Ah, s---. I think it’s me. I’ve gotta do this.”
So you identify with Hamer’s feeling — he felt that he and Gault were the only guys who could catch Bonnie and Clyde, so it was up to them.
To this day, because of the roles that I’ve played, if I’m in a restaurant and someone’s choking, I swear to God half the restaurant will look at me like I’m going to jump over four tables and get to that person. It’s not that I won’t make that move, but I may not be the most capable person in the room. There’s a lot that’s assigned to you with celebrity.
What was your reaction to 1967’s Bonnie & Clyde?
I loved it, and I started reading books about them. Hamer was only mentioned slightly. My view of him was the same as everybody else’s. He was someone they made fun of in the movie — a bit of a buffoon. I later found out his character [played by Denver Pyle, who later played patriarchal Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard] was [based on] two people.
