Kevin Costner ‘Doesn't Even Think About’ Retirement

Legendary actor Kevin Costner, 70, is making it abundantly clear that retirement is the furthest thing from his mind.

“I don't even think about retiring, because I'll just move to the next thing that captures my imagination,” he told People recently. “Imagination is what determines what I do, not a boss. I think we're all different and we have different things happening for us.”

Costner also said he’s felt “really lucky in my life” and frames his decades-long success in Hollywood as having “worked for all of it.”

“Not everybody can live in the same blueprint,” he added.

Costner has starred in numerous classic films, including Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves (his directorial debut), The Bodyguard and JFK. He also done television shows such as Hatfields & McCoys in 2012 and Yellowstone, which he starred in from 2018 until 2023. Costner nabbed two Oscars for Dances with Wolves and an Emmy for Hatfields & McCoys.​

Kevin Costner in 'Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1'

Warner Bros/Everett Collection

In 2024, the AARP cover star spoke in-depth about what success meant to him at that point in his career.“You know, I think we have false gods when it comes to how we judge success,” Costner explained. “I understand what it’s like to have a huge hit and what it does for you. But what’s success? Is it money? Is it doing what you wanted to do in life? Movies aren’t just about opening weekend.

“Ten years later, a good movie will still be shared. Success is: Will you revisit it and show your daughter, show your son? Will you revisit it because you wonder about it, because you find new details? Those are the measures.”

Costner isn’t the only actor relinquishing the idea of retiring from acting.

Seventy-seven-year-old actor and iconic bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t want to exit stage left either. “There’s just so many things that I do that I feel like, Why would I stop? This is exactly the very thing that provides fun for me,” he told AARP recently. “To wake up with those challenges — it is the difference between living and existing.”

Meanwhile, Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt, 61, has no desire to take his foot off the proverbial pedal of making movies. Pitt said he’s feeling reinvigorated about his career because of his new race film, F1.

“Doing this this long, and to find something that was almost like starting over, it was so full of passion, and it gave me a feeling like I’ve never had before,” he told Extra. “It was just sublime.” ​