# Kevin Costner filmography
The Kevin Costner filmography is the record of screen roles and directing, producing, and writing credits of the American actor and filmmaker [Kevin Costner](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-costner) (born 1955 in [Lynwood, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/lynwood-california)), whose career runs from small parts in the early 1980s to leading roles in westerns, sports films, and political thrillers, and to television work on *Hatfields & McCoys* and *[Yellowstone](https://www.edgepedia.org/yellowstone-american-tv-series)*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Credited roles | 67 credited roles per one compiled count: 59 films and 8 TV series, dated 1953 to 2025[1](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/kevin-costner-filmography) |
| IMDb credit totals | 70 acting credits, 31 producer credits, 6 director credits, plus writing, soundtrack, and other credits[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000126/) |
| AFI Catalog | 52 titles listed across cast, director, producer, production misc, and history categories[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/173025-Kevin-Costner) |
| Breakthrough | *The Untouchables* (1987) as Eliot Ness, his first bona fide hit as a leading man[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films) |
| Signature film | *Dances with Wolves* (1990), which won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/kevin-costner) |
| Directing | Four films to date: *Dances with Wolves* (1990), *The Postman* (1997), *Open Range* (2003), and *Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1* (2024)[6](https://apnews.com/article/528e240a45ff261242b44334316817a4) |
| Television honors | Emmy and Golden Globe for *Hatfields & McCoys* (2012); John Dutton in *Yellowstone*, which ended after five seasons in 2024[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/kevin-costner) |
## Early roles and breakthrough
Costner's first screen appearances were small ones: Frat Boy #1 in *Night Shift* (1982), an uncredited part in *Frances* (1982), and Phil Pitkin in *Testament* (1983)[1](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/kevin-costner-filmography) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/173025-Kevin-Costner). He was cast as Alex in [Lawrence Kasdan](https://www.edgepedia.org/lawrence-kasdan)'s *The Big Chill* (1983), but his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor; Kasdan remembered him when casting the western *Silverado* (1985), in which Costner played Jake[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000126/). Before filming *Silverado* he took a leading role in *[Fandango](https://www.edgepedia.org/fandango-1985-film)* (1985), a coming-of-age comedy directed by Kevin Reynolds, who became one of his most frequent collaborators, and followed with the sporting drama *American Flyers* (1985)[7](https://prime.sg/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/00-Prime-Aug-Sept-2024-Low-Res-V1.pdf).
**Leading-man status.** 1987 established him: as treasury officer [Eliot Ness](https://www.edgepedia.org/eliot-ness) in [Brian De Palma](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-de-palma)'s *The Untouchables*, his first bona fide hit as a leading man, holding his own opposite an Oscar-winning Sean Connery[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films), and as naval officer Tom Farrell in [Roger Donaldson](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-donaldson)'s political thriller *No Way Out* (1987), which firmly sealed his status as a leading man[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films). He followed with Crash Davis in Ron Shelton's *Bull Durham* (1988) and Ray Kinsella in *Field of Dreams* (1989)[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/173025-Kevin-Costner).
## The 1990s: stardom and setbacks
*Dances with Wolves* (1990), in which Costner played Lieutenant John J. Dunbar, a Union soldier stationed at the western frontier who befriends the people of a nearby Sioux village in the 1860s, was his debut as a director. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and Costner was nominated for Best Actor[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/kevin-costner) • [8](https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/25893/2/Final%20PhD%20Thesis%20Cassandra%20Schreiber.pdf). The same year he produced for the first time with *Revenge*, in which he also starred as Jay Cochran[7](https://prime.sg/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/00-Prime-Aug-Sept-2024-Low-Res-V1.pdf) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/173025-Kevin-Costner).
Through the decade he alternated genres: Robin of Locksley in *Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves* (1991), [Jim Garrison](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-garrison) in [Oliver Stone](https://www.edgepedia.org/oliver-stone)'s *JFK* (1991), Frank Farmer in *The Bodyguard* (1992), and escaped convict Butch Haynes in [Clint Eastwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-eastwood)'s *A Perfect World* (1993), a performance that complicated and darkened his established upright persona[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/173025-Kevin-Costner). His commercial winning streak ended with the big-budget mid-1990s flops *Waterworld* (1995), on which he was also star and producer, and *The Postman* (1997)[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films) • [5](https://www.biography.com/actors/kevin-costner).
## Directing
Costner has directed four theatrical features[6](https://apnews.com/article/528e240a45ff261242b44334316817a4):
1. *Dances with Wolves* (1990), his directorial debut, which won him the Oscar for Best Director[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/kevin-costner).
2. *The Postman* (1997), a post-apocalyptic film on which he was also star and producer[6](https://apnews.com/article/528e240a45ff261242b44334316817a4) • [5](https://www.biography.com/actors/kevin-costner).
3. *Open Range* (2003), a western in which he starred alongside [Robert Duvall](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-duvall) as a pair of free-grazers in conflict with a ruthless cattle baron; the BFI's curators call his direction classical, unhurried, and assured[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films).
4. *Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1* (2024), a multi-chapter western he co-wrote, directed, and stars in as Hayes Ellison, unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival before its Warner Bros. release on June 28, 2024, with Chapter 2 following August 16[6](https://apnews.com/article/528e240a45ff261242b44334316817a4).
For *Horizon*, Costner said he had personally financed $40 million of the multi-film project[9](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/kevin-costner/).
## Later film and television work
Costner's 2000s and 2010s credits include Kenny O'Donnell in *Thirteen Days* (2000), Murphy in *3000 Miles to Graceland* (2001), Charley Waite in *Open Range* (2003), the title role in *Mr. Brooks* (2007), Jonathan Kent in *Man of Steel* (2013), Sonny Weaver Jr. in *Draft Day* (2014), Jim White in *McFarland, USA* (2015), Al Harrison in *Hidden Figures* (2016), and [Frank Hamer](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-hamer) in *The Highwaymen* (2019)[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/173025-Kevin-Costner) • [1](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/kevin-costner-filmography). In 2020 he starred as George Blackledge in *Let Him Go*[1](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/kevin-costner-filmography).
**Television.** He won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing "Devil" Anse Hatfield in the 2012 [History Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/history-channel) miniseries *Hatfields & McCoys*, then starred as rancher John Dutton in the neo-Western series *Yellowstone*, which ran five seasons and ended in 2024[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/kevin-costner). In 2025 he returned as executive producer, host, and narrator of the three-episode docuseries *Yellowstone to Yosemite with Kevin Costner*[10](https://apnews.com/article/00351bf525c4fbadaa14db6e36cb6b25).
## The western thread
The western is the genre that recurs most across the filmography on both sides of the camera: *Silverado* (1985), *Dances with Wolves* (1990), *[Wyatt Earp](https://www.edgepedia.org/wyatt-earp-film)* (1994), *Open Range* (2003), *Hatfields & McCoys* (2012), *Yellowstone* (2018 to 2024), and *Horizon: An American Saga* (2024)[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/173025-Kevin-Costner). The BFI's curators describe the western as the bedrock of Costner's career on both sides of the camera[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films). Sports films form the other signature cluster, with *Bull Durham*, *Field of Dreams*, *Tin Cup* (1996), *For Love of the Game* (1999), and *Draft Day* (2014)[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/173025-Kevin-Costner) • [4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films).
## References
1. [Kevin Costner Filmography: Every Movie and TV Show in Order, Pop Culture Files](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/kevin-costner-filmography)
2. [Kevin Costner, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000126/)
3. [Kevin Costner, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/173025-Kevin-Costner)
4. [Kevin Costner: 10 essential films, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/kevin-costner-10-essential-films)
5. [Kevin Costner: Inside the Award-Winning Actor and Director's Life, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/actors/kevin-costner)
6. [Q&A: Kevin Costner on unveiling his Western saga 'Horizon' at Cannes, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/528e240a45ff261242b44334316817a4)
7. [Going Into Acting, Prime magazine](https://prime.sg/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/00-Prime-Aug-Sept-2024-Low-Res-V1.pdf)
8. [Final PhD Thesis Cassandra Schreiber, University of the Arts London](https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/25893/2/Final%20PhD%20Thesis%20Cassandra%20Schreiber.pdf)
9. [Kevin Costner's Best Movies and Shows Ranked by Tomatometer, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/kevin-costner/)
10. [What to stream: Kevin Costner celebrates a park, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/00351bf525c4fbadaa14db6e36cb6b25)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actor filmographies and performer list articles › Surnames A to F*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license