Seemingly at the peak of his career， Costner stumbled onto a run of alarmingly mediocre efforts. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (in which Costner，as Robin Hood，forget to adopt an English accent， a failure that Mel Brooks pointedly addressed in his 1993 parody of the film， Robin Hood: Men in Tights) and The Body guard may have scored financial windfalls， but the critics crucified both films and Costner along with them.

Though he earned critical praise for his work in JFK and A Perfect World， neither film lived up to the financial expectations Hollywood had begun to associate with his name. His next four films proved(9)costly flops， a trend that culminated in the disas- trous Water-world，which grossed $88 million at the U. S. box office.

In his film， Water-world， Costner plays the Mariner， a loner who sails across a world 500 years from now. The polar ice caps have melted and Earth has flooded--there is nothing but wa- ter. Everyone looks for dry land，somewhere to rest after the relentlessness of always being on the move.

On the international publicity circuit， he is in Australia for the first time，but it has been such a whirl that he cannot remember when he arrived.

He is downunder to explain why production costs on Water-world spiralled out of control to make it the world's most expensive movie，at US＄170 million. He has taken on the task of defending it because nobody else seems prepared to.

Costner's voice is instantly recognizable on the phone--a soft，slow Californian drawl as reassuring as a family doctor making a house call. \"The movie's going to be fine，\" he says.

The way Costner tells it，it was up to him to save Water-world from sinking. When studio bosses threatened to pull the plug，he gave up his 15 percent share of the gross to keep it alive. \"They were going to eliminate some scenes because they thought the movie was getting too expensive，\" he says. \"But， while the movie was expensive， I explained to them that if we lost those scenes they would have a very expensive movie that was not a movie. I finally had to get tough and say， 'Look， I'm not kidding here. '\"

But it was about more than money. As the shoot dragged on and on，Costner stepped in for his stuntman， just to get it done sooner. Shots of the Mariner swinging from the mast of his tri- maran， or sliding down the wire in the final action scene， reveal a star who is risking his own life. Once Costner was strapped to the mast with a helicopter only six meters away and edging closer. Then a gale rose in one of the windiest channels in the world， and there was the star，white-knuckled10) and cold-sweating， hanging on to the mast for half an hour. Did he ever think this could be it?\"Yeah，about 10 times I thought I could die.\" \"Surely it isn't his ＄170 million at stake. It is just the position I end up in. That's the way it is.\" So why did Costner take the chance again on a minor league director， Reynolds? (He directed Robin Hood. ) It was about friendship，about giving a friend a chance，Costner replies. Unfortunately，Reynolds blew that chance， because he walked off the film.

So Costner risked his life， lost a friend， lost money--and his marriage.

Throughout Kevin's career， the woman by his side has been Cindy， whom he met at college and married in 1978. She was to- tally supportive during tile uncertain years while Kevin was making the grade as an actor.

Kevin and Cindy had three children. \"My children are very much part of my world，\" Kevin says. His Hollywood office is stocked with games for them;he drives them to school when he can; and he worries about how his fame is affecting them: \"I want my children to think they're special， but I don't want them to think they are better.\"

Which is probably how he thinks of himself. In spite of himself earning a reputed US ＄8 million for his film Dances With wolives，he retains a down-to-earth approach. \"Whatever people may think，it is still the work that interests me most. I wake up happy about my health and my family. That's enough.\"

But in October 1994，he announced that he and Cindy Costner， were divorcing amid rumors that Costner had been caught with a hula dancer. He became so irate at the tabloids running stories about his failed marriage that he banned journalists from the Water-world set.

Despite months of bad publicity， Water-world turned out not to be the washout it was predicted to be.

Having soared to giddy heights and then plunged to the bottom of the heap，Costner went back to square one in 1996， reteaming with Bull Durham writer-director Ron Shelton for a film on the sport of golf，Tin Cup. He next produced，directed and starred in a big-screen adaptation of David Brin's post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller， The Postman.

Costner has a late start，but with hard work，patience and faith， he finally made it to the top.(The End)

似乎科斯特納的事業(yè)已到達(dá)了頂峰，但他錯誤地作出了一些令人震驚的無用努力，他主演了《羅賓漢：竊賊王子》和《保鏢》，在前一部影片中，科斯特納扮演羅賓漢，他忘了采用英國口音；梅爾·希魯克斯在他1993年的該影片的模仿滑稽作品《羅賓漢：穿緊身衣褲的男人》中一針見血地指出了這一失誤。這兩部影片可能已經(jīng)得到了經(jīng)濟(jì)效益，但是影評家們一致否定這兩部影片和科斯特納。

盡管科斯特納在影片《肯尼迪總統(tǒng)》和《完美世界》中的出色表演受到了影評家的贊賞，但是，好萊塢已開始把經(jīng)濟(jì)期望與他的名聲聯(lián)想在一起，這兩部影片均未能達(dá)到這一期望。他接下來的四部影片制作經(jīng)費昂貴而又遭到徹底失敗，這種傾向在損失慘重的《水的世界》登峰造極，制作費用最高，而它在美國的票房總收入只有8800萬美元。

在其影片《水的世界》中，科斯特納扮演航海者，一個孤獨地航行在500年以后的世界上的人。那時極地冰冠已經(jīng)融化，地球上到處都覆蓋著水——除水以外沒有其他東西。人人都在尋找干燥的陸地，即在不斷奔波以后能夠得到休息的地方。

在其巡游世界宣傳該片的過程中，他第一次來到了澳大利亞，但行程如此緊張，以致他記不起是何時到的。

他到澳大利亞后向人們解釋，為何《水的世界》這部影片的制作費用扶搖直上以致失控，成了世界上花錢最多的影片，其支出高達(dá)1.7億美元。他承擔(dān)了為之辯護(hù)的苦差事，因為似乎無人有此思想準(zhǔn)備。

科斯特納的聲音從話筒里可以立刻辨認(rèn)出來。他的聲音柔和、緩慢，帶有加利福尼亞口音，好像家庭醫(yī)生上門看病人時的寬慰聲音。他說：“這部影片會成功的?！睆目扑固丶{談?wù)撨@事的態(tài)度來看，挽救《水的世界》以免其沉沒是他義不容辭的責(zé)任。當(dāng)電影制片廠老板威脅著要抽走資金時，他放棄了自己那份15%的贏利份額，以使這部片子能繼續(xù)搞下去。他還說：“他們打算刪掉一些情節(jié)，因為他們認(rèn)為這片子花錢太多。我向他們解釋，雖然花費大了些，但若刪去這些情節(jié)，那么這片子依然開支浩大，還會搞得不成樣子。最后我不得不非常嚴(yán)肅地說：‘喂，我可不是開玩笑!”’但這還不僅僅是錢的問題。當(dāng)拍攝一再拖延時，為了更快地完成拍攝任務(wù)，科斯特納開始參與他的特技替身演員的工作。航海者在三體帆船的桅桿上面搖擺著或是在最后的動作鏡頭中從鋼絲繩上面滑下來——這些鏡頭顯示出一位明星正在冒生命危險。有一次科斯特納被用帶子捆扎在桅桿上面，一架直升飛機(jī)只離他六米之遙，而且還慢慢向他逼近。這時從世界上一條最廣闊的航道里刮起一陣大風(fēng)，而這位影星就在那桅桿上面搖晃著，他精神緊張，直冒冷汗，掛在桅桿上長達(dá)半個小時之久。他是否想到了死？“是的，大概有10次我都想到我就會死去?！碑?dāng)然不會是他那筆1.7億的資金成問題?！拔乙獔猿值降椎恼沁@種態(tài)度，就只能這樣?！蹦敲纯扑固丶{為什么又采用雷諾茲這樣一個平庸的導(dǎo)演呢？（他導(dǎo)演過《羅賓漢：竊賊王子》），科斯特納回答說，這關(guān)系到友誼，想給朋友一個機(jī)會。但是，很不幸，雷諾茲毀了這次機(jī)會，因為他扔下片子一走了之。就這樣，科斯特納冒了生命危險，失去了一個朋友，失去了金錢，而且還失去了自己的婚姻。

在科斯特納的創(chuàng)業(yè)生涯中，始終陪伴他左右的是個叫辛迪的女子。他們在大學(xué)相識，并于1978年結(jié)婚。在科斯特納為當(dāng)演員苦掙資本、前途未卜的日子里，她一直毫無保留地給予他支持。

科斯特納和辛迪生了三個孩子。“我的孩子是我生活的重要組成部分。”科斯特納經(jīng)常這樣說。他在好萊塢的辦公室里裝滿了為他們準(zhǔn)備的玩具，只要有空，他就會開車送他們上學(xué)，但同時他也為自己的聲譽(yù)對他們的影響而感到憂心忡忡?！拔乙尯⒆觽冇X得他們與眾不同，而不是比別人優(yōu)越”。

這恐怕也是他的自我剖析。盡管他的影片《與狼共舞》片酬高達(dá)800萬美元，他仍保持著腳踏實地的工作態(tài)度?！安还軇e人怎樣想，工作才是我真正的興趣所在。只要我一覺醒來看到自己身體健康、家庭幸福，我就別無所求了?！?/p>

但是科斯特納于1994年10月宣布和辛迪·科斯特納離婚，當(dāng)時謠傳他與一位草裙舞舞女在一起被逮住了。他對于小報刊登有關(guān)他失敗婚姻的聳人聽聞的報道無比憤怒，所以禁止記者們到《水的世界》劇組采訪。

盡管一連數(shù)月風(fēng)傳不妙，但《水的世界》并未像當(dāng)初預(yù)料的那樣一敗涂地。

已經(jīng)飛到了令人暈眩的高度，然后又跳回起點，1996年科斯特納又重新開始與《壯漢德爾漢》的作者兼導(dǎo)演倫·舍爾頓合作，拍攝一部有關(guān)高爾夫運動的影片《錫杯》。他自己擔(dān)任制片人、導(dǎo)演，主演的下一部寬銀幕影片是《郵差》，這部影片是根據(jù)大衛(wèi)·布里恩的后天啟主義的科幻驚險小說改編而成的。

科斯特納出道較晚，但他憑借著自己的努力、耐心和信心，終于功成名就了。（全文完）

注釋：

9.flop n. （口語）徹底失敗。

10. white--knuckle神經(jīng)緊張的。