Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#126
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Kevin Costner represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 43 years in, and Kevin is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Kevin Costner appears in 48 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Kevin. Hidden Figures is the clearest case: a film rated 8.2 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for documentary, drama, western. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Colin Hanks, Kevin Costner, Thomas Bezucha and others, Kevin Costner helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Hidden Figures (2016) as Al Harrison · John Candy: I Like Me (2025) as Self - Actor (archive footage) · The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019) as Enzo (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #126 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
48
1982–2025
Career length
43 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.2
Hidden Figures
Average Nutevio score
6.7
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.2
The Art of Racing in the Rain
Most frequent director
Kevin Costner
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With Kevin Costner
Most common genre
Drama
32 titles
Average runtime
2h 8m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.2
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.9
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2020s
7.0 average MV
The 2020s are where the work and the material meet. John Candy: I Like Me, Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas, Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2020s
7.0
Across 5 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2020s
7.0
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, The Untouchables.
Most productive era
1990s
15 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.85 films | 6.811 films | 6.44 films | 7.09 films | 6.83 films |
| Action | 6.81 film | 6.64 films | 6.52 films | 6.34 films | — |
| Thriller | 7.32 films | 7.23 films | 6.45 films | 6.12 films | 6.81 film |
| Comedy | 6.64 films | 5.82 films | 5.94 films | — | — |
| Crime | 7.81 film | 7.51 film | 6.42 films | 6.72 films | 6.81 film |
| Romance | 6.61 film | 6.45 films | 5.71 film | 7.91 film | — |
| Horror | — | — | 5.41 film | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1982Night Shift
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Frat Boy #1.
Highest rated performance
2016Hidden Figures
8.2 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2019The Art of Racing in the Rain
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2025Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas
The current state of the argument, as Self - Host.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
48 of 48 films
as Lieutenant Dunbar
Directed by Kevin Costner
as Eliot Ness
Directed by Brian De Palma
as Al Harrison
Directed by Theodore Melfi
as Jim White
Directed by Niki Caro
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Enzo (voice)
The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)
Performance score8.4
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Enzo (voice) gives Kevin Costner a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Lieutenant Dunbar
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Performance score8.3
Dances with Wolves asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lieutenant Dunbar is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Eliot Ness
The Untouchables (1987)
Performance score8.3
The Untouchables asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Eliot Ness is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Al Harrison
Hidden Figures (2016)
Performance score8.2
Hidden Figures asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Al Harrison is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Enzo (voice)
Start here. The Art of Racing in the Rain is the clearest statement of what Kevin Costner does — accessible, 109 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Kevin at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
The Untouchables (1987)
A deliberate change of key after The Art of Racing in the Rain — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Dances with Wolves (1990)
A deliberate change of key after The Untouchables — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
McFarland, USA (2015)
Keeps the drama register of Dances with Wolves but asks for a colder reading of it.
Hidden Figures (2016)
Keeps the drama register of McFarland, USA but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Kevin Costner
Director
4 films together
Notably Dances with Wolves
Lawrence Kasdan
Director
3 films together
Notably Silverado
Kevin Reynolds
Director
3 films together
Notably Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Ron Shelton
Director
3 films together
Notably Bull Durham
Roger Donaldson
Director
2 films together
Notably Thirteen Days
Mike Binder
Director
2 films together
Notably Black or White
Ron Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably Night Shift
Brian De Palma
Director
1 film together
Notably The Untouchables
Phil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together
Notably Field of Dreams
Tony Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably Revenge
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably JFK
Alek Keshishian
Director
1 film together
Notably Madonna: Truth or Dare
Mick Jackson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bodyguard
Clint Eastwood
Director
1 film together
Notably A Perfect World
Jon Avnet
Director
1 film together
Notably The War
Sam Raimi
Director
1 film together
Notably For Love of the Game
Luis Mandoki
Director
1 film together
Notably Message in a Bottle
Tom Shadyac
Director
1 film together
Notably Dragonfly
Rob Reiner
Director
1 film together
Notably Rumor Has It...
Andrew Davis
Director
1 film together
Notably The Guardian
Bruce A. Evans
Director
1 film together
Notably Mr. Brooks
John Wells
Director
1 film together
Notably The Company Men
Zack Snyder
Director
1 film together
Notably Man of Steel
Ivan Reitman
Director
1 film together
Notably Draft Day
McG
Director
1 film together
Notably 3 Days to Kill
Kenneth Branagh
Director
1 film together
Notably Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Niki Caro
Director
1 film together
Notably McFarland, USA
Theodore Melfi
Director
1 film together
Notably Hidden Figures
Aaron Sorkin
Director
1 film together
Notably Molly's Game
Simon Curtis
Director
1 film together
Notably The Art of Racing in the Rain
Thomas Bezucha
Director
1 film together
Notably Let Him Go
Colin Hanks
Director
1 film together
Notably John Candy: I Like Me
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Kevin Costner
Director
4 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Dances with WolvesLawrence Kasdan
Director
3 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
SilveradoKevin Reynolds
Director
3 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Robin Hood: Prince of ThievesRon Shelton
Director
3 films together · 6.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Bull DurhamRoger Donaldson
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Thirteen DaysMike Binder
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Black or WhiteTheodore Melfi
Director
1 film together · 8.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hidden FiguresColin Hanks
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
John Candy: I Like MeSimon Curtis
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Art of Racing in the RainBrian De Palma
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The UntouchablesNiki Caro
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
McFarland, USAClint Eastwood
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Perfect WorldOliver Stone
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
JFKAaron Sorkin
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Molly's GameAndrew Davis
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The GuardianPhil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Field of DreamsBruce A. Evans
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mr. BrooksThomas Bezucha
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Let Him GoMick Jackson
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The BodyguardIvan Reitman
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Draft DayZack Snyder
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Man of SteelTom Shadyac
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DragonflyJohn Wells
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Company MenJon Avnet
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The WarTony Scott
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RevengeSam Raimi
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
For Love of the GameLuis Mandoki
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Message in a BottleAlek Keshishian
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Madonna: Truth or DareKenneth Branagh
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jack Ryan: Shadow RecruitMcG
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
3 Days to KillRon Howard
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Night ShiftRob Reiner
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rumor Has It...Six degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Hidden Figures
as Al Harrison
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Hidden Figures
as Al Harrison
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Hidden Figures
as Al Harrison
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Night Shift
as Frat Boy #1
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Art of Racing in the Rain
as Enzo (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Kevin Costner has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
43 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Drama Legend
Awarded
32 catalogue titles in drama, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Hidden Figures
as Al Harrison
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Untouchables
as Eliot Ness
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Art of Racing in the Rain
as Enzo (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Dragonfly
as Joe Darrow
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Dances with Wolves
as Lieutenant Dunbar
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Man of Steel
as Jonathan Kent
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Hidden Figures
as Al Harrison
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Waterworld
as Mariner
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: family and comedy
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: family and comedy
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Have your say
Community
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Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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