The Weird Reason Stephen Hawking Wanted To Hang Out With Kevin Costner

Did Stephen Hawking have a little crush on Whitney Houston? It certainly sounds that way, according to none other than Kevin Costner. The Dances With Wolves director has admitted that when he met the iconic theoretical physicist, the only questions he had for him were about his co-star in The Bodyguard.

Kevin Costner made the revelation during a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Eddie Redmayne, who is one of the favorites to land the Academy Award for Best Actor next month because of his portrayal of Dr. Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything, was also a guest on the talk show, which instigated Costner’s bizarre tale. According to the actor, Hawking was the one who asked to meet Costner, and, in fact, around a decade ago, he was so insistent that he even travlled to the actor’s house.

Costner admitted that it was one of the most "bizarre" incidents in his already rather peculiar life. Dr. Stephen Hawking, who has suffered from ALS and has been wheelchair bound for over half of his life, arrived to Costner’s home alongside numerous nurses and attendants. Costner probably assumed that he was set to venture on a variety of intellectual discussions with the renowned genius. Unfortunately for the actor, that wasn't the case, as Hawking only had one subject that he wanted to talk about: Whitney Houston. Costner explained,

"I was waiting for it, and finally he said, ‘I’d like to know about Whitney Houston.’ I said, ‘Well, you’re just like me. Let’s get to it.’ I said, ‘You’re not the only one, Steve. A lot of people want to know about Whitney. I said, ‘What do you want to know?’ And that was it."

Poor Kevin Costner. Still, at least he will always be able to say that he actually met Stephen Hawking face-to-face. However, if he has any sense, then he won’t actually reveal what if any intimate details they discussed. Because if he reveals that he met Stephen Hawking and they only talked about The Bodyguard then both of them will come across as quite peculiar. To be fair to the pair of them, though, Costner and Houston’s camaraderie in the hugely popular 1992 movie was sensational. Relive some of the magic below:

Meanwhile Eddie Redmayne also waxed lyrical about Dr. Stephen Hawking during his appearance on the show. The English actor declared that Hawking is "one of the most charismatic men" that he’s ever met, while also noting "he’s definitely a ladies man." At the moment, Eddie Redmayne has probably just nudged ahead of Michael Keaton in the race to pick up the Best Actor Academy Award. Redmayne collected the Screen Actor’s Guild trophy last weekend, which came after he eclipsed The Imitation Game’s Benedict Cumberbatch to pick up the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama.

Gregory Wakeman