All those attributes only grease the grist mill when his All-American image takes a pounding over his reputed womanizing. He's rich (he made $41 million in 1998, according to Forbes magazine). When things happen to him, he'll retreat into that strength.'Īnd things do happen - partly because Costner is an easy target. John Travolta: 'Kevin has great integrity as a man.

Says 'Game' co-star Kelly Preston, better known as Mrs. You can cry all you want thinking people have invaded your privacy, but you created the situations in life and you need to deal with them. 'Given everything that was going on, I just thought, 'Are you going to be a baby?' I said don't be a baby. 'When I came out of 'Waterworld,' I didn't know if I was going to make it emotionally,' he says.

Then again, a lesser ego might not have received best director and best picture Oscars, as Costner did for 1990's 'Dances With Wolves.' Weathering the bad buzz before the movie's release, then standing the film world on its ear gave him a sense of empowerment that wavers but never crumbles. Still, after 'Waterworld,' a lesser ego might have packed up his bat and glove and stormed off the Hollywood sandlot forever.

Alter ego game relationships