BY CINDY PEARLMAN
Big Picture News Inc.
“How do I stay healthy at this age? I have little children, and I work hard at playing harder than them,” says Kevin Costner, who’s promoting his latest film, “Black or White,” in which he plays a grandfather raising his young granddaughter.
It’s 9 a.m. on his ranch in Aspen, Colorado, and already the kid in Costner is planning his day.
“I love a little horseback riding, followed by taking the kids out to the tide pools and just running around looking for crabs,” says the very young-looking 60-year-old. “I’ve been real lucky about a lot of things in my life, but one of the things has been this ability to stay healthy. I think one of the big things that helps me is that I don’t sit it out. I move. I get out there and take the biggest bite out of life that’s possible.”
It helps that he also has a 17-acre oceanfront home in Santa Barbara, where his three youngest children are growing up. “You try chasing a little kid around for a day. It’s the best cardio there is,” he says with a laugh.
Costner keeps in shape doing things he loves. “I love to golf, so I know I’m going to do it and not just blow it off,” says the screen icon, whose handicap hovers around 10. “The same thing with fishing. My kids like to get out there and try to catch a fish. I’m right there with them. It’s physical and a way for the whole family to get outdoors together.”
Costner shared other ways he keeps body and mind healthy:
Give yourself some food wiggle room: “Part of the fun for a child is a sense of larceny. They want to know they’re getting away with something,” says Costner, who does allow his little kids a little Redi-Whip at breakfast. “Mom’s not around, and you put that whipped cream on a spoon. My 6-year-old is a skinny twig, and he loves the fact that he got some whipped cream in the morning the other day. My 3-year-old puts whipped cream in my coffee. You can’t be so stringent about never having a little sugar in your life.”
Get it off your chest: Costner says that with age comes honesty. “It’s all about what’s unsaid in life. We all have unsaid things in our lives and wish we could go back and say them. We wish that we weren’t so hard on someone else. We wish we had listened more to that other person. But then the moment passes and we never get it back again. … ‘Field of Dreams’ still touches people because it’s that case of, ‘If I could just do one thing right again. Please God, give me a chance. Give me that moment back.’ ”
Find your thing to relax — and do it:. Costner plays guitar in a band called Modern West. “Just practicing every single day is my relaxation. I bring my guitar to movie sets. Playing is a nice way to end the day. I tell people to find an outlet. Something you love. You deserve it.”
