Kevin Costner Reveals He Almost Didn't Speak at Whitney Houston's Funeral

The Bodyguard actor explains why he ultimately chose to eulogize the legendary singer at her funeral

By Sierra Marquina May 06, 2012 1:21 AMTags
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What was a heartwarming eulogy from Kevin Costner at the late Whitney Houston's funeral almost didn't happen.

The Bodyguard actor, who co-starred in the flick alongside the legendary singer, revealed in an interview with Huffington Post that he was reluctant to speak about his friend's passing until he received a call from Houston's cousin Dionne Warwick.

The actor revealed: "I had consistently turned down doing sound bytes and going on news programs to talk about Whitney. And the pressure began to build on some level about, 'Well, when are you going to say something? Are you going to say something?' And the truth is, I don't really know how I feel at that moment about anything."

"Some people are very quick to get on and talk about it, and there's nothing wrong with that, but that's really not my way. And I actually didn't realize that it seemed that a lot of people did want to hear from me on some level.

"Sometimes you don't understand, and somebody has to say, 'People really do want to hear it.' And I was thinking, 'Oh my goodness,' and I still didn't think any of the forums that I was seeing [like talk shows] were right, to be honest. There was one notion that maybe I would go on the Image Awards and present a film clip, which would be one or two lines and here's the clip, and she meant a lot more to me than that."

Costner says the impetus for his decision to speak came from Houston's cousin: "When I got a call from Dionne Warwick, that's when I said I would come. And I'm not saying that was the right forum. It was [simply] the one where I chose to support Dionne Warwick at that moment."

And we're sure glad he did.