Kevin Costner is giving his younger self a shoutout while reminiscing on his 69th birthday.
“Celebrating another year of life today and taking a moment to honor this kid who had big dreams,” Costner, 69, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, January 18, alongside a throwback photo of himself in a cowboy hat. “It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come.”
The actor thanked his fans for “all the birthday wishes,” crediting them for his decades of success. “It’s because of your support that I’ve been able to chase my dreams all these years,” he added.
Costner has quite the career to look back on. After rising to prominence in a string of films like The Untouchables and Field of Dreams in the 1980s, he catapulted to fame by starring in and directing the 1990 western epic Dances With Wolves, a film which earned him two Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. He has since starred in various other critically acclaimed and box office hits, nabbing three Golden Globes, a Primetime Emmy and two Screen Actors Guild Awards along the way.
More recently, Costner’s life has been filled with change. In 2022, he wrapped up the fifth and final season of his hit Paramount series Yellowstone, on which he plays family patriarch John Dutton. He’s also gearing up for his next project, Horizon: A Western Saga, to hit theaters later this year.
Costner has also faced ups and downs in his personal life. He and ex-wife Christine Baumgartner split in May 2023 when she filed for divorce after 18 years of marriage. The pair engaged in a contentious and messy legal battle, which included a lengthy dispute over child support, before finalizing their divorce in September 2023. The exes share three children: Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, and daughter Grace, 13. (Costner shares kids Annie, 39, and Lily, 37, and Joe, 35, with ex-wife Cindy Silva and son Liam, 27, with ex Bridget Rooney.)
Costner has since moved on with Jewel. The twosome were first romantically linked in December 2023 when they were spotted vacationing in the Caribbean together. A source later exclusively told Us Weekly that the duo have known each other for much longer, running in the same social circles “for years” before their relationship began.
The insider added that Costner and Jewel’s mutual love of music is what “organically” sparked a connection between them. “He’s really into his [band, Modern West], and singing, and she’s very much a part of that country-and-western world,” the source explained. “Some of their mutual friends joke how it’s surprising they didn’t get together years ago.”
The couple have always had an extremely high opinion of each other and have always gotten along great due to their “go with the flow” attitudes, the insider told Us.
“The consensus is that he’s found a real keeper in Jewel and that this has the makings of something that could be very special,” the source added, telling Us that there isn’t any “pressure” or “expectation” from either side. “The consensus is that he’s found a real keeper in Jewel and that this has the makings of something that could be very special.”
