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Kevin Costner Is a ‘Joke’ to Surfing Community as He Preps for New Film: ‘They Think He’s Lame’
Kevin Costner may have won over the country world thanks to his star turn in Yellowstone, but he’s got a long way to go in the surfing community now that his next film project, a surf thriller titled Headhunters, is officially in the works.
“He’s been quietly trying to get in the surfing community for years and hasn’t even got a foot in the door because they think he’s lame and a Hollywood star who should stick to dry land,” a source exclusively tells Life & Style of the 69-year-old actor.
The upcoming film, which is currently in pre-production in Hawaii ahead of a November start date, will star Kevin, who also acts as cowriter and producer.
Directed by Steven Holleran based on an idea he originated, the movie is described as a mashup that combines the “kinetic energy of surf culture with the suspense of horror,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Kevin will play a washed-up American expat named Lazer who now lives in Bali, Indonesia, and recruits a group of surfers on a journey to an uncharted island.
The surfing world is “very competitive,” the Life & Style source says, adding, “Surfers don’t like these amateurs infringing on their waves. Plus, he’s locked in this ‘I’m cool in my new life’ mode, and they’re saying, ‘Who does he think he is?'”
According to the insider, “Kevin’s buying up surfboards that are all wrong, and people think he’s a joke. Bottom line is this is a very tight, cliquey, snobby community, and he’s not doing himself favors with his arrogance and by expecting people to fall to their feet.”
The harsh criticism of Kevin has seemingly led the A-list actor to seek help from some expert surfers.
A source recently told Closer that Kevin is “trying to channel his inner Baywatch” by hiring “a surf trainer and getting out there early in the morning to catch the first waves.”
“Kevin’s desperate to hang out with the surf crowd now that he’s got a new movie on the subject,” added the insider. “The feeling is he should probably stay in the whitewater and avoid the big waves — and let the stuntman do the stunt work!”
However, according to the source, Kevin is “trying to be as method as he can be,” referring to the famed acting technique used by performers who prepare for a role by using their own experiences and memories.
“This is the way Kevin does things,” the source explained. “But he’s got a long way to go, and he may never reach his goal because, let’s face it, he’s a lousy surfer.”
It’s likely that Kevin is working so hard on Headhunters because his passion project Horizon: An American Saga proved to be a flop.
In June, a separate source told Life & Style, “The critical beatdown he took in Cannes stings, it stings a lot.”
The source added, “What’s more irritating to Kevin is that he really doesn’t feel like he has the film industry behind him on this big swing, and he encounters naysayers at every turn. It’s supremely annoying to him after all he’s done for Hollywood and especially for the Western genre.”
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