The Untouchables

Kevin Costner

Turning the legendary Eliot Ness into a three-dimensional character was a challenge for the actor who plays him.

It was 1931. The Great Depression was on. Millions of decent people were out of work, and although it was a time when they could have used a drink the most, Prohibition had been the law of the land for twelve years. Local governments were corrupt and often in the hands of the mob. Chicago was perhaps the most corrupt city in the country. Al Capone, the most ruthless gangster of his time, ruled the Windy City with tommy guns and hand grenades, growing fat with the wealth he was making off others’ miseries. Only one man, Eliot Ness, dared to stand against him. Portraying the legendary Ness as a three-dimensional person was a real challenge for actor Kevin Costner.

“It was very tough to grab onto Eliot Ness,” Costner admits. “He was very enigmatic. I mean, who was he? This guy was 29 years old, and he took on one of the most vicious people in the whole world. I was trying to see how he did that and with what kind of conviction.”

“Also, he’s kind of a stiff character, and I tried to make him as human, as likeable, as possible. In the beginning, he’s actually very naïve and foolish, maybe even more foolish than we might be in those circumstances. In the first raid, for instance, there was a bit of amateurishness in how he did that. Instead of feeling sorry for Eliot Ness, I was afraid the audience might think, ‘What did you expect?’ and therefore not be on his side. I had to try to get the audience to like me and not root for the glamorous bad guys. In a party situation, I think, it would probably have been more fun to be around Al Capone than Eliot Ness.”

Because The Untouchables deals more with the legend that has grown up around Ness than with accurate history, Costner found that researching the man’s actual background was only partially helpful. “He did not have a family at the time this was going on, he was from Chicago—we have him as an outsider—so I basically started going with the facts of the script. But,” he notes, “I was able to put in a few improvised lines based on some research I had done.”

Consequently, Costner had to rely primarily on his own instincts in developing Ness’s character. “You always bring some of yourself to a role,” he says. “It’s very difficult to hide; your soul comes shining through on screen no matter what you play. What I did, though, was try not to give my own little characteristics to Eliot Ness. I didn’t want to sabotage him with my own little quirks. I wanted to play him as a stand-up-and-deliver kind of guy.”

Costner’s no-nonsense, straight forward approach to playing Ness was especially helpful to him in the scenes involving Al Capone, played by Robert DeNiro. “What it basically was between us was a value-for-value type of acting,” Costner feels. “Robert was worried about what he was giving to me, and I was consequently worried about what I was giving to him.”

Costner found that the relationship he shared with Sean Connery paralleled what happens between their cinematic counterparts. Just as the young , eager Eliot Ness found a tutor in the more experienced Jimmy Malone, so too did relative newcomer Costner find a guide in the established screen celebrity.

“I have a very special place for Sean, both as an actor and as a friend,” he relates. “There were times when Sean would whisper something to me and it was always right on the mark. He wouldn’t do it often, only if he would sense I was having a problem. There were a couple of times he would just talk to me about my endurance and how to save my energy and protect my performance for the four months it took to film it.” However, their relationship was far from a solemn one. “There was always a lot of teasing between us,” he smiles. “The first day we worked, I was doing a close up, and Sean was walking around. I stopped right in the middle of the scene and said, ‘There’s a damn Clydesdale walking behind me! Can you make any more noise while I’m trying to do my close up?’ Sean just looked at me and said, ‘Oh, was that a performance?’ then that big Scottish grin broke out all over his face, and everyone let out a deep breath.”

“Sean doesn’t hold himself in as much esteem as everyone else does. To me, though, when Sean was on the set, no matter what the call sheet read, he was the star of the movie. That’s the way I treated him, and that’s the way I will forever feel.”

The Untouchables also gave Costner a chance to show his shooting ability, which he’d developed for his role in the western Silverado. “I really like the gun play in the movie,” he says. “I like guns, and I feel very comfortable with one in my hand on screen. Also, I’m kind of a physical actor, and when I can incorporate running and jumping into my performance, it always works very well for me.”

Despite the fact that this project’s roots lie partially in an old TV show, Costner feels The Untouchables film is unique. “Someone might say ‘Untouchables? What’s different about that?’ But there is something different about this picture. It’s a genuine movie experience.”