Kevin Costner has spent decades as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable leading men, so it’s easy to assume dating came naturally to him long before fame arrived. Surprisingly, the Oscar-winning actor recently revealed that his high school years told a very different story.
Even though many people saw him as handsome, romance simply never fell into place. During a candid conversation, Costner looked back at those awkward teenage years and explained why he never had a high school girlfriend.
Kevin Costner Opened Up About His Awkward High School Years
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Costner dismissed the idea that he had always been the popular, handsome guy who could easily attract girls before becoming famous.
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In the show, Stern asked whether Costner had always been considered good-looking and popular even before Hollywood. To that, Costner quickly replied, “No, no, no. I had— I didn’t have a date in high school. I went to 4 different schools: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th.”
When Stern followed up by asking if he had a high school girlfriend, Costner gave an even more surprising answer. “No high school girlfriend. I went to the senior prom by default because I thought I should have a date.”
He then went on to add, “I only went to those backward dances where the girl asked the guy, and I was of course never dancing with the girl I wanted. She was like 3 people over. No, it didn’t work for me that way. I haven’t been back to any of those reunion things, to any of those schools, ever.”
Constant School Changes Hurt Costner’s Confidence
Costner explained that moving from one school to another made it difficult to build friendships or relationships. He attended four different schools in four years, something he believes affected him during an important stage of his life.
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Costner said his junior year in Visalia, Central California, stood out as the happiest period. He also remembered a conversation with his mother, who acknowledged how much those frequent moves had affected him. She told him, “Look, a family follows their father. We support your dad. We realize we’ve taken you out of school 3 or 4 times at a critical point in your life.”
Costner admitted he never complained about the situation, but it still left a mark. “And I didn’t complain, but I lost a lot of confidence during that time,” he said.
Stern later suggested that attending a high school reunion could be a confidence boost, but Costner revealed he has never returned to any reunion at any of the schools he attended.
Ironically, the actor who struggled to get a date in high school found love before he became a major movie star. Costner married his college sweetheart before breaking through with films such as ‘The Untouchables‘, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and ‘JFK’.
Their marriage ended in 1994 during the peak of his career. After the divorce, he was linked to several famous women before eventually beginning a relationship with Baumgartner.
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