Kevin Costner Says Dianne Warwick Convinced Him to Speak at Whitney Houston's Funeral
We all remember Kevin Costner's moving eulogy at Whitney Houston's funeral in February. In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, the Bodyguard actor revealed that Dionne Warwick convinced him to speak at the sad event.
Costner told the publication: "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?'"
He continued: "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'."
He then went on to say: "And I was thinking, 'Oh my goodness', and I still didn't think any of the forums that I was seeing [like talkshows] 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. 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 the one where I chose to support Dionne Warwick at that moment."
In Costner's speech on February 18, he talked about the Baptist Church upbringings both of them had, as well as obstacles they had to overcome to work together and make the worldwide blockbuster "The Bodyguard."
Costner started his address by explaining how one of Houston's most well-known hits, "I Will Always Love You," almost never came to be. He revealed how another song, "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted," was going to be used in "The Bodyguard."
"What becomes of our broken hearts? Whitney returns home today, to the place where it all began," Costner said. "I ask that we dry our tears, suspend our sorrow, just long enough to remember the sweet miracle that was Whitney. We can't forget Cissy and Bobbi Kristina sit among us. Your mother and I had a lot in common. A lot of people are thinking, really? You're a boy, she's a girl; she's black, you're white. I heard you like to sing, but our girl could really sing."
