Kevin Costner has said he feels the pressure to stay relevant so his “beautiful wife” is not tempted to “look anywhere else”.
The American actor, who stars in a new Bonnie and Clyde biopic, said he was driven to keep the standard of his work high by the responsibility of fatherhood.
Costner, 64, is married to former model and handbag designer Christine Baumgartner, and the pair have two sons and a daughter.
He said: “For me, I try to stay relevant because I have three kids I play with – I play hard – and I try to take care of myself.
“I have a beautiful wife and I don’t want her to look anywhere else. I want to be something for her. I want to stay interested in life.”
Costner stars in the Netflix film The Highwaymen, which is directed by John Lee Hancock.
The feature follows Texas rangers Frank Hamer, player by Costner, and Maney Gault, played by Woody Harrelson, as they hunt the infamous criminals.
Costner said the movie would not have been picked up by traditional film studios and could only have been made by Netflix, adding he expected it to cause a stir during awards season.
Asked about streaming services’ place in the current landscape, he replied: “Well I’m going off to do a big feature film that will be on a big screen, so I chase scripts, I chase stories.
“Literacy has propped up my career – not just my natural charm. I’ve depended on the words of writers and the ones I’ll write myself, on stories and how it’s done.
“Movies are in flux right now and I suspect that they’re going to sort this thing out, but this movie would have never made it to the big screen, it would have never been made.
“I’m glad it’s been made, and I think the debate over how it plays out in award seasons, they’re going to sort that out.”
The Highwaymen is released on Netflix on Friday March 29.
