Second chances! Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner may have met in the ’90s, but it took the couple years before their connection blossomed into something more.
The actor was previously married to Cindy Silva from 1978 to 1994. Over the course of his first marriage, Costner and Silva welcomed daughter Lily (born in August 1986), daughter Annie (born in April 1984) and son Joe (born in January 1988).
The California native later got candid about how the approach to his love life changed after his divorce, telling The Hollywood Reporter in 2012, “My faith was shaken. No one wants their marriage to end, and it did. You are going to see the people you love most, your children, only half as much. That’s a huge loss.”
Following the split, the Dances with Wolves actor dated Bridget Rooney from 1995 to 1998. Rooney gave birth to the pair’s son, Liam, in November 1996.
In 1999, Costner and Baumgartner crossed paths again before they officially started dating. After four years together, the couple briefly called it quits.
“Fear kept me from marrying Christine. [She] wanted a child, but I was afraid I couldn’t be an effective father,” Costner told Closer Weekly in June 2018, noting that he was able to get past his worries. “I woke up and thought, ‘Am I going to lose a beautiful woman who is willing to be with me to my very last breath because I am afraid to say yes to a child? That’s all it took. Sometimes you learn the thing you’re most afraid of will save your life.”
Costner and Baumgartner tied the knot in 2014 and went on to have three children together. The filmmaker admitted that his family has made him appreciate his life more.
“Movies are magic, and they’ve always been magic to me. You get to play heroes in the movies, but there’s a moment in time where you’re just a father and you get to go home,” he shared with Closer at the time. “I have played two roles in my life, one I get paid to do, which is the movies, and the other one is being a father, for which I’ll be rewarded my whole life.”
The Golden Globe winner previously revealed what he considers to be the secret to a successful relationship, telling Parade in May 2012, “I know that sounds so simple. If you’re willing to tell somebody that you love them, are you also willing to say you’re sorry? You need to, even when you think you’re in the right.”
In May 2023, Us Weekly confirmed that Baumgartner filed for divorce from the actor after 18 years of marriage. Per TMZ, she cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split. Costner filed his response the following day.
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