Who Are Kevin Costner’s Parents? All About Actor’s Family Beliefs & Christian Faith

Kevin Costner recently spoke candidly about practicing faith and family beliefs following his narration of the ABC special, Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas.

In an interview with Deseret News published on December 8, Costner said, “I’ve been a part of all kinds of stories, but to be able to narrate the birth of Christ, it seemed appropriate to me, given my history with the church. I was raised in a church. I haven’t probably proclaimed that to the world, but anybody who knows me, knows that. It’s been so much a part of my life — religion that has spread around this world.”

Family Background and Upbringing

Costner was born to William and Sharon Costner and grew up in Compton, California. William worked as an electrician and utilities executive, requiring the family to move frequently across the United States. Reflecting on this, Kevin told GQ in 2024, “I lost a lot of confidence in those years, and almost lost myself.”

Although William has passed away, he was actively involved in Kevin’s projects, including Dances with Wolves. Kevin shared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2014, “In Dances with Wolves, when I’m actually riding, I’m about to give up my life, and I do that Catholic thing, and then the soldier who’s about to shoot me gets shot in the forehead. He does that and I cut back, and it’s my father with the gun. I said, ‘You want to be in the movie, you want to save me?’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’ There’s little things that you can throw people into.”

Kevin praised his father’s resilience in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, calling him a “fighter; he could fight” and adding that William “taught me in a way that was designed to win.”

Meanwhile, his mother Sharon was a welfare worker and also sang in a choir. Like William, she participated in Kevin’s projects, including Tin Cup and For Love of the Game, before passing away in 1998.

“My parents followed me…they saw my little league games and everything. When I went out to direct a movie, they got a trailer and took it out to South Dakota. They go, ‘We won’t be in your way, we’ll be on a hill over here and we’ll watch you’ and it was like, ‘I’m a grown man.’ I would look up on the hill in the morning, and they had two lawn chairs and a motor home, and I go work with all the guys, and I see my mom wave at me, and I [wave] to my mom,” Costner recalled.

Sharon and William had three children: Kevin, Daniel Craig Costner, and Mark Douglas Costner, who sadly passed away after being born prematurely in 1953.

Reflecting on Kevin’s independence as a child, William said in 1989, “From day one, Kevin was his own person. Once he decided to take charge of organizing a parade at his school.” Kevin added, “I figured it was too big a job for an eleven-year-old and said, ‘Kevin, you can’t do that.’ And Kevin said, ‘Dad, never tell me I’m not able to do something.’ He went ahead and organized the parade.”

Faith and Beliefs

Costner emphasized the importance of faith in his life, calling the story of Jesus Christ “incredibly special.” He explained, “You choose to believe. I choose to believe — that doesn’t mean I know how to defend it when someone can come at me from different directions.”

In a statement to USA Today on December 8, he referred to the church his family built in the 1950s as his “foundation.” “Our friends came from the church. The church was central in our lives,” he said. Costner also noted that his grandmother was a choir director and reflected on the significance of faith, saying, “These fantastic stories of faith and of believing, it’s nice to believe in something. I’d hate to live in a world where I don’t believe in anything.”

At 70 years old, Costner added, “People don’t always understand what moves us or what gives us this kind of determination or this faith that we will come out of this dark spot. We can’t. We just choose to believe, and it’s something that has really sustained me.”