The Bodyguard: Kevin Costner's Protection of a Vulnerable Whitney Houston, the Lost Pregnancy, the Heartbreaking Farewell
Released in 1992, it broke audience and record sales records. The critics destroyed the singer's performance without knowing the delicate personal moment she was going through. And the film also sealed a deep friendship: Costner would take care of her on screen, and also in real life.
The soundtrack of The Bodyguard was the best-selling in history, leaving songs like I Have Nothing or I Will Always Love You to be remembered.
To begin this chronicle, imagine the reader this situation. All the Italians or almost all the French or all the Peruvians plus the Venezuelans sing in unison: “I will always love you...” . It seems impossible, however it is not. In 1992, 62 million people, that is to say the total population of those countries, had bought the soundtrack of the movie The Bodyguard and turned its main theme "I Will Always Love You" into a romantic anthem that it resounded on all the western radios. Despite the fact that critics had rated the film with just four out of ten points, it was sweeping theaters. Viewers loved that different love story and made it one of the most iconic and remembered titles of the 90s.
The Bodyguard tells the story of a pop star, Rachel Maron , who, faced with death threats, hires Frank Farmer , a former FBI agent, as a custodian. The man is as effective as he is handsome and she is as talented as she is vulnerable, so between songs and actions, protected and protector end up falling in love. Until then we could say -in this case write- that it is one more story and even not even very original. The same year that the film was released, it became known that Princess Stephanie of Monaco was in love with Daniel Ducruet , her custodian and father of her child that she was expecting from her. A few years earlier, in 1987, Princess Diana had an affair with Barry Mannakee, your head of security. The man was fired from his job and later died in a motorcycle accident, proving that happy endings sometimes only happen on screen.
Kevin Costner como Frank Farmer y Whitney Houston como Rachel Marron protagonizan una historia de amor inolvidable
If the previous romances show that the love story between a celebrity and a custodian could be something real, The Bodyguard broke with some topics that at the time shocked and shocked a lot . It told the love story not between a poor and weak girl but between a powerful, millionaire and somewhat conceited artist, and between a poorer man but who, far from being a sympathetic fortune hunter, was professional and rather bitter. What shocked the most was not the rupture of the traditional roles expected in romantic dramas, but rather that its protagonists were an African-American and a white man, and to make matters worse for the prejudiced ones, in that romance, skin color was not a problem.
The idea for this story came from the creative mind of Lawrence Kasdan . The writer had failed to get any producer interested in his story, but in 1985, filming Silverado , he met Costner and everything changed. The actor was enthusiastic about the script, but at the time he couldn't move forward with the idea. It is that the actor began a golden age in his career where he would star in The Untouchables , Revenge , JFK and Robin Hood among other films and would sweep the 1990 Oscars as actor and director of Dances with Wolves . In 1991 he recalled Kasdan's idea. He decided to produce, star in but not direct The Bodyguard . . When asked who would be the protagonist, she did not hesitate: Whitney Houston .
His proposal made more than one pale. Since 1985, the singer was at the top. At the age of 22, her first album had sold 18 million copies worldwide and three years later her fortune had already reached 45 million dollars. Although she was a successful woman, she used to be criticized by the African-American community. She was considered an "uncle Tom" (a pejorative term to refer to people who renounce their roots to please white people) and they made it known to her at an awards ceremony in 1988 where instead of an ovation she was booed. They defenestrated her for the somewhat mellow lyrics of her ballads but she defended herself: “She tells you the stories that people want to hear”.
In addition to criticism for her music, Houston had to deal with rumors that she was a lesbian - when the question is, what crime is there in that? - and that her secretary and several actresses were among her lovers. It was said that her relationship with Bobby Brown , six years her junior, was a screen and that although she was soft and shy, she was violent and short-tempered.
Costner did not care about all these rumors. For him, Whitney was the right fit because of her undeniable voice, her natural elegance, her compelling presence on camera and international fame. When he offered her the role she hesitated. Some time before she had refused to star in Dreamgirl and that it was a musical. Why should she accept it now? Also, she sang, she didn't act.
Houston raised his doubts with Costner. He first told him that Rachel seemed too cocky and perverse, the actor agreed and agreed to make her warmer and more vulnerable. Houston raised the main fear of him. If as a singer and having the undeniable talent that she had of her they destroyed her, what would happen to her to see her as an actress when she had never acted? Kevin took care to assure her -in person and not through assistants- that he would be with her, that he would accompany her all the time in her work and that he would never allow someone to destroy her with their criticism of her.
Costner kept his promise to take care of her to the letter. Before shooting began, Whitney took acting lessons but he advised her to follow her instincts and natural charm. “That was the hard part. Learn the lines and let them flow as if she were singing”, she would admit in a 1992 Los Angeles Times interview . When Whitney did her first screen test she put on excessive makeup and her face lost its charm. Far from admonishing her in front of everyone, Kevin took her to her dressing room and explained that in the movies it was not necessary to put on makeup as much as for her video clips.
In addition to protecting her on set, Costner took it upon himself to defend her against retrograde racists. When her doubts about interracial kissing were expressed to him, he was undeterred, only replying, "Who couldn't fall for Whitney Houston?" . And here is a historical fact. So much scandal over that love story may be explained because it was barely 25 years since interracial marriage had been approved in the United States. And there is one more thing. That racist world has not changed much. Oliva Wilde recounted that when her character De Ella Trece de Ella kisses Omar Epps , the black actor who played Foreman in Dr. Housereceived death threats. And that happened in the year 2009 and not in the days of slavery.
With such a background -or prejudices- the film was a milestone for women. For the first time, an African-American woman was the boss and not the employee, and for the first time the conflict was not due to skin color but because the protagonists were more in love with their jobs than with other beings.
Finally convinced with her character, protected by Costner, Houston was strict on one condition: she would not do nudes. "Even though everyone would like to see me without panties, this is not going to be possible . " The sex scenes are almost scenes of chastity, however the film has moments that give "lecture of eroticism". What viewer doesn't remember the katana and scarf scene without their hormones raging? If the basic seduction manuals indicate anything, it is that insinuating is often much more powerful than showing and that the game of seduction can be much more attractive than the realization of desire and there are plenty of those moments in The Bodyguard .
Released, the film was a commercial success but received 7 nominations for the Razzie Award , known as the anti-Oscars and celebrating the worst films of the year. It was nominated for worst picture, worst screenplay, worst actress and worst actor, among other nominations, although it did not win any.
For many, Whitney's performance was bad. In the face of her criticism, she admitted that she was a mediocre actress and that the only thing that mattered to her was singing. “I am a voice. It is the gift that God gave me,” she said. What her critics didn't know is that this "mediocre actress" actually acted for a living or to reconnect with life. In the middle of filming she found out that she was pregnant by her partner, Bobby Brown. Imagine the reader, the joy and also the expectation. Within weeks, she felt severe pain and suffered a miscarriage. “It was very painful, emotionally and physically ”, Whitney would recount many years later.
At the end of filming, another big problem arose. When editing the scenes, Mick Jackson , the director, verified that the explosive chemistry that is expected of two beings in love did not exist between the characters, but what they transmitted was the complicity of two friends. And yes, we already know that sometimes it is more difficult to find a good friend than a great lover, but what happens in real life ruins any romantic movie. It was then that Kostner once again proved that he was a man of his word. In order not to leave his friend in a bad way, he was in charge of supervising the edition. He decided to give Houston more close-ups. Thus he managed to make her shine even though her role as an actor was somewhat blurred.
After the film, Houston's artistic path continued to rise. She got tired of selling records, imposing songs, organizing tours, winning awards and topping the charts. In her private life she entered a dark zone where her addictions began to surround her. “She had so much money and so much access to what she wanted,” she confessed to Oprah Winfrey , that kind of big celebrity confessor. She also accepted that she had a violent and toxic relationship with Brown. “She spent her days and nights getting high with Bobby, watching TV. I went seven months without taking off my pajamas… ”.
In 2006 he divorced and faced two hospitalizations to rehabilitate. She seemed that she was slowly taking back the reins of her life. Two days after rehearsing for the 2012 Grammy Awards party, she was found face down in the hotel bathtub. They tried to revive her for 20 minutes. It didn't work. She had turned 48 years old.
Days later his funeral was held. Although some asked for a public tribute, the family decided to organize a strictly private funeral. At the church service she sang a gospel choir. Newark Mayor Cory Booker remembered her "as one of our angels." Among those who came to say goodbye to her were Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, R. Kelly and Alicia Keys, who sang "Send me an angel" .
Kevin Costner could not miss the sad farewell. Let 's dry our tears and remember the sweet miracle of Whitney . I told her that I was going to be with her 'in every step of the way' (in all the steps of the way), as the song from The Bodyguard says”, he began her speech. He collected himself and continued, “ Whitney, if you can hear me, you're not good enough. You were the best .” He fired her not as the actor he was but as that friend who once promised to take care of her and who, before her death, was left with the certainty that “now there is a woman in heaven making God wonder how he created something so perfect ”.
