Kevin Costner Taught Me About Value?
This spring, the film Draft Day was filming at Cleveland (where I reside) and I wound having an upper-level seat during the majority of the filming. I was able to see Kevin Costner, Denis Leary as well as Jennifer Garner work (not to mention Black Panther‘s Chadwick Boseman).Costner Taught Me A bit lucky, I was fortunate enough to play the role of Denis Leary’s assistant for the filming, basically acting like he did while the crew put up cameras and lights for every scene.
(I am also an actor in the scene at airports. You will not want to miss my driving around in a golf car both ahead and backwards.)
Draft Day centers around the general manager of the Cleveland Browns (played by Costner) as he moves and moves on his day at the NFL Draft. Denis Leary plays the new Browns coach who doesn’t seem to be his general manager. Jennifer Garner is the team’s salary cap expert as well as Costner is the love interest of Costner. Boseman is a possible draftee.
What you’ll notice while you’re working at the scene of the film that stars Kevin Costner is how much pressure is placed on Kevin Costner. Kevin Costner is in nearly every scene, the filming process almost non-stop for six weeks or more, and he needs to perform over and over time. Every eye is focused on him, no matter where is he on the scene. It’s not too far-fetched to suggest that the film exists solely simply because Kevin Costner was willing to make it happen, and in many ways, he was the film’s CEO. He had the obligation of making it happen so that everyone else could get paid. This is a lot of responsibility to take on. (For younger people, Kevin Costner may just appear like an older actor But he was THE movie star of the 1980s and 1990s.)
It’s difficult to determine how Costner felt under the pressure but I can tell you that Costner was extremely concentrated and incredibly focused on the set. There was no snoozing about. I’ve read that he is not just aware of his lines , but also knows the lines of everyone else, too. It’s clear that he is obsessed with the small specifics. At one point , he was taking a step back from where he had dropped off in the scene, and was worried about the continuityof the scene “Was I holding the cup or was it down on the table?”
What I learned from the whole thing was one that was worth the effort. It’s difficult to imagine how much money top actors earn however what you’ll see when you’re near the scene is the amount depend the ability of their actors to deliver. Not only one time, but over and over and over again, performing the same scene over and over again so that it is shot from different perspectives, or played in various ways, so that the director has several options to edit. Also, being on a film setting is much less enjoyable than you’d imagine — there’s pressure to finish everything within a set timeframe as every additional day will cost hundreds of people. It can be sometimes grumpy. It’s a good idea to have actors who know they’ve “been there, done that” and who perform to their best and are familiar with their lines. and are always reliable regardless of pressure to deliver. (Of course , it’s not a bad thing to have audiences who love them too.)
Living in Cleveland I have noticed something like this to LeBron James. (Since the first time this article was written, LeBron has left the Cleve
.) The man is a colossal amount of money. It’s not difficult to argue that no human could make that many. However, he earns that amount because people believe that they’re receiving value for the money that they are paying him. This includes the owner of the Quicken Loans Arena (now Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse which is a pity) featured every time LeBron is in a game that is nationally telecast or the businesses that offer him a chance to promote their goods, or companies that pay for seats on the floor, or the rival teams which have arenas filled with fans during the time LeBron is in town. Everything is centered around LeBron. This is pressure. However, every time he performs his best, and never falls short every person feels that they’ve received their money’s worth. It’s possible that he’s underpaid.
You and I may never achieve the level of earning that of Kevin Costner or LeBron James. We can, however, work to improve our value. To be the one that everyone relies on in their field. To improve our skills to the point that we’re one of the only a handful of people who are able to perform the task at the top level. Each time we expand our capabilities and we stand out just a bit further from the rest of the pack, advancing to a point that others cannot or will not go.
Kevin Costner reminded me of the importance of be valuable, even though Kevin Costner only spoke 7 words about me. ***
The remarks are “I think you can go in now.” This was on the same day I had to fill in as Costner’s stand-in and he informed me that the crew was waiting to go ahead with setting up the shot. This was totally insignificant to Costner however, notice that I can still recall. That’s worth it.