• More
Back to PopWatch Home
EW Home

Kevin Costner is funny -- just ask Dane Cook

Apr 5, 2007, 10:25 AM | by Mandi Bierly

Categories: Deals, Film

Costner_l "I'm gonna out Kevin Costner right now," Dane Cook told PopWatch earlier this week. "He's one of the funniest people I've ever been around." If you're wondering why the standup king has been around Costner, it's because they costar in the June 1 serial-killer thriller Mr. Brooks. Costner (pictured, in character) plays a businessman who murders couples at the urging of his imaginary friend (William Hurt); Cook plays a peeping Tom who coincidentally snaps pictures of the lovebirds at the moment of their demise, then  blackmails Brooks into teaching him the killer craft. While we're still digesting the deliciousness of Costner playing a psychopathic serial killer, Cook is already thinking of Costner's next potential unexpected turn: the comic role he's writing for him.

The film, set up at the Weinstein Company, is called Ex-Family. "The basic premise is a guy falls in love with a girl. Her whole family ends up falling in love with him. He gets cold feet, breaks up with the girl, and instead of just her becoming the crazy ex, the whole family makes his life miserable because they all want him back," Cook says. "If Costner will play her father..." Before you play Armchair Agent and tell us whether you think Costner should take Cook up on the offer, hear the comic out.

"[Here's] a story that I love to tell my friends," Cook begins. "The first time I ever felt comfortable enough to bust his balls, we were filming this scene all night in a car with William Hurt. We were talking about conspiracy theories or something and all really gettin' into this conversation, and then suddenly [Costner] brought up the movie The Postman and went on this eight-minute epic story. William and I are just listening for five, six, seven, eight minutes. 'The Postman does this and dadada.' He finally got to the end of the story — 'And that's why that happened...' — and I just took a beat and then went, 'When does that come out?' [Laughs] His reaction was like just what you would want. The first thing he said was [shouts] 'You motherf---er!' And then he was just laughing so hard. All night long, he just kept jabbing me: 'I can cut you out of this movie, man.' But he was so cool to accept it, and so funny, that I was like, 'Man, I've always been a fan, but I really want to see you do more like you're doing now...' I told him I'd write something with him in mind because he's a funny cat and people need to see it. Now I know how his humor is, so I've got my fingers crossed."

One more thing Cook hopes Costner's future holds: A hosting gig on Saturday Night Live. "I told him, 'It's a crying shame you've never done SNL.' He won't do it. I don't know if it's fear so much as he's like, 'I just don't know if they'll write the right characters.' But on set, he'll act out voices and become different people. 'This guy one time...' He's such a laidback guy, but very, very, very funny."

What do you say, PopWatchers? Assuming the script is better than Rumor Has It..., we're sold.


Phil Sun, Aug 17, 2008 at 10:42 PM EST

If Costner had made no attempt at an accent at all, it would have been okay. The problem is that SOME kind of accent creeps in every now and then: "I'm Wobin of LocksLAY".

Janet Fri, Apr 6, 2007 at 06:16 AM EST

Kevin Costner has always been able to carry off comedy, he just likes to get his teeth into meatier things - not always with success. So what if he can't do accents? Sean Connery does Scottish in every role he plays - ie Scottish/Russian in Hunt for Red October Scottish Irish in Untouchables Scottish/English when playing King Richard in Robin Hood - and no one ever slates HIM for it.

Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 04:08 PM EST

Don't know about his comedic ability - but from the picture, it looks like he needs to see a cosmetologist about his skin REAL fast...

Snarky Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 04:04 PM EST

Dane Cook & comedy is the equalivent of a tuxedo with brown shoes.

Jim Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 03:48 PM EST

Go back and rent Tin Cup, Silverado, Bull Durham, and the woefully underrated Fandango. Costner is great in comedic roles and should certainly do more. So should Val Kilmer.

Ceballos Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 03:33 PM EST

Costner's the man! (when he's not taking himself too seriously as seem to be the case in the instances Cook describes)
And long live Mandi for periodically and randomly posting about Costner.

Howard Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 03:32 PM EST

Marykate, he was supposed to have an accent, and it faded in and out like crazy (and like most other American members of the cast, except for Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Morgan Freeman and whoever played Friar Tuck).

marykate Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 02:51 PM EST

Howard, Costner had no accent in Robin Hood.

Love that movie.

Donna Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 02:44 PM EST

Kevin can just read the phonebook as far as I'm concerned. I love all of his movies which I think he does take
seriously. His interview on Actor's Studio remains one of the best to date. He gave the students insightful information and showed viewers a glimpse of himself that we have seldom seen in other talk show formats. The city of Toronto was very excited to have him attend The Toronto International Film Festival. I enjoyed The Guuardian a good story about an oft forgtten group.

Pete Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 02:38 PM EST

Dane Cook saying someone is funny is like Hannibal Lecter saying someone's "a really nice guy"...in that neither one knows a damn thing about it.

Dane Cook literally has an act that goes 10 minutes between jokes. He just yells and prances and pours water bottles on himself for minutes on end...then he steals someones lame joke and goes right back to the high volume showboating.

Getting Comedy Advice from Dane Cook is like asking Anna Nicole what prescriptions you should take.

Pete Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 02:38 PM EST

Dane Cook saying someone is funny is like Hannibal Lecter saying someone's "a really nice guy"...in that neither one knows a damn thing about it.

Dane Cook literally has an act that goes 10 minutes between jokes. He just yells and prances and pours water bottles on himself for minutes on end...then he steals someones lame joke and goes right back to the high volume showboating.

Getting Comedy Advice from Dane Cook is like asking Anna Nicole what prescriptions you should take.

Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 01:40 PM EST

I love Costner. He made a few duds but so what? And he was a charming drunk in 'The Upside of Anger'. He's not hardy-har-har funny, he's subtle. The Chris Rocks and Ben Stiller types go for the big obvious lame laughs, but I like the kind that sneak up on you.
Yeah, Costner could do comedy, as long as it's not something lame and stupid. There's already plenty of actors doing that junk.
Costner RULES!!!

nathan Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 01:26 PM EST

So true, Cook judging comedy is about as reliable as Paula Abdul juding singing.

rachel Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 01:06 PM EST

Since when did Cook become a good judge of one's comedic ability, considering he isn't even funny himself.

rachel Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 12:49 PM EST

Since when did Cook become a good judge of one's comedic ability, considering he isn't even funny himself.

rick Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 12:16 PM EST

costner is the man.

mark in nyc Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 11:34 AM EST

If Dane Cook is writing it the odds are that it is not going to be a comedy...or funny....or good.

sarah Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 10:52 AM EST

I have always had a place in my heart for Kevin Costner. I will seriously defend Waterworld as being not that bad. (It really isn't. Besides they play it on Bravo, like, every other weekend which means SOMEONE must be interested in it.) I don't think Rumor Has It was that terrible either. Though, I will say The Guardian was inexcusable.

Kevin just needs to unite with Quentin Tarantino a la John Travolta, revive his career, and regain his status as a great actor with quality films.

Howard Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 10:33 AM EST

Most of Costner's best roles have been where he didn't take himself too seriously: "Silverado", "Bull Durham", "Tin Cup". Conversely, he has usually faltered when he tries to do something "important" like in "Postman" or "Thirteen Days", which was a great movie in spite of Costner doing the worst Boston accent imaginable ("Untouchables" is the exeception to the serious part of this theory). As long as it's a good script and he doesn't have to do an accent (after "Thirteen Days" and "Robin Hood", he should never be allowed to do accents again), I think a comedy would be good for him.

Josh Thu, Apr 5, 2007 at 09:56 AM EST

It depends, I guess... Is Dane Cook writing the movie or is he adapting it from a script Louis C.K. has already done?


advertisement

Add Your Comments

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject — or we may delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk (*) indicates a required field.



  • 1000 characters remaining
    • When you click on the "Post Comment" button above to submit your comments, you are indicating your acceptance of and are agreeing to the Terms of Service. You can also read our Privacy Policy.
Latest Comments
Top Categories

All Categories

Blog Roll
Top Authors
Recent Posts
PopWatch Archive
July 2009
S M T W T F S
      1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31  

Complete Archive