The Hollywood star Kevin Costner has broken his silence after the death of his beloved Dances With Wolves co-star Graham Greene.
Greene Passes Away
Greene sadly died on Monday at a hospital in Toronto, Canada after a long illness. He was 73 years-old.
“He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed,” Greene’s agent Michael Greene (no relation) told Deadline. “You are finally free. Susan Smith is meeting you at the gates of heaven.”
This was a reference to Greene’s longtime agent, who died in 2013.
Costner Breaks His Silence
On Tuesday, Costner, 70, took to Instagram to break his silence about Greene’s death. Indeed, he posted a clip from their 1990 movie Dances With Wolves alongside an emotional tribute to his old friend.
“A few things come to mind when I think of Graham Greene and our time together on Dances With Wolves,” Costner wrote. “I think of how willing he was to learn the Lakota language. I think of my joy when I heard that his work on the film was recognized with an Academy Awards nomination.”
“And I think of this scene in particular, when he was able to establish so much about the relationship between Dunbar and the natives with so few words,” he continued. “He was a master at work and a wonderful human being. I’m grateful to have been witness to this part of his lasting legacy. Rest in peace, Graham.”
Check out the scene that Costner posted in the video below.
Greene’s Final Wish
This comes after it was revealed that Greene’s dying wish was to get in contact with Costner just one more time. It seems that he wanted to personally thank Costner for the representation that he’s given native people for decades.
Greene’s manager told TMZ that the actor’s team tried their best to make this happen. Sadly, Greene and Costner were not able to speak before the star passed away.
Costner both starred in and directed Dances With Wolves, which won him the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director in 1990. Costner also starred in the movie as a “lieutenant assigned to a remote Civil War outpost.” The character then “starts questioning his purpose after making contact with a neighboring Sioux settlement.”
Costner was additionally nominated for Best Actor for his work in the film, and Greene was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Sadly, Costner lost the acting Oscar to Jeremy Irons for Reversal of Fortune. Meanwhile, Greene lost his Oscar to Joe Pesci for his turn in Goodfellas.
Greene ‘Stumbled Into’ Acting
Greene admitted to Reader’s Digest Canada in 2017 that he kind of “stumbled into” acting. This came after he started out “as a carpenter, a welder, a draftsman, a carpet layer, a roadie and an audio tech.”
When asked what he loved most about acting, Greene replied, “These people keep me in the shade, give me food and water, take me over to where I say what I’m supposed to say, then they take me back.”
Greene compared the easygoing lifestyle of being an actor to that of a dog. Indeed, he clearly enjoyed his career very much.
Rest in peace, Graham Greene.