It was a home run.
Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon reunited at the 81st annual Venice Film Festival, 36 years after the two co-starred in the baseball romance “Bull Durham.”
Koestner, 69, recorded the occasion in his memoirs. An Instagram post.
Costner shared a photo of himself smiling with Sarandon, 77, on Instagram on Thursday, writing, “There's nothing like meeting an old friend.”
“It's so good to see you (Susan Sarandon), we've come a long way since our 'Bull Durham' days,” the former “Yellowstone” star said.
Sarandon attended Venice as an honored member of the Better World Fund.
Costner attended the premiere of his Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2.” Costner stars in and directs the four-part film, whose box office future is uncertain after the first part flopped, received scathing reviews and the second part was pulled from the U.S. box office schedule even as it premieres in Venice.
In the 1988 film “Bull Durham,” which earned Sarandon a Golden Globe nomination for best musical or comedy, Costner played “Crash” Davis, the veteran catcher on a minor league baseball team who is teaching rookie pitcher AB Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) the ropes of the game. Annie Savoy (Sarandon) is a baseball groupie related to Nuke who finds herself attracted to Crash.
In real life, Sarandon met Robbins while filming the movie and began spending time with him. The former couple broke up in 2009, but remained together for more than two decades and have two sons together.
In the film, Crash and Annie have a famous sex scene in the kitchen, and Costner said in a 2019 interview that he had stacked items on the island for dramatic effect.
“Physical ballet is where she finally gets it,” Costner told EW.
“I'm wiping things down without taking my eyes off[it]; I'm cleaning the table and going and looking at it. What I like to do is take the script and then find the physical form of it. So, I loaded up that island.”
The Oscar winner added, “When you really want someone, (nothing) matters. ‘Did it crash? Oh, the milk spilled? Who cares?’ And that leads to blowing on her toenails.”
Costner told the outlet that he feels a “real affinity” toward Crash as a character.
“It was a crucial position to play Crash – this American badass, this good-for-nothing who was facing heroic defeat.”
In an interview with Build SeriesSarandon called the role “a really great role that she wasn't 'overqualified for.'”
“And yes, I had two kids because of that movie. So … what can I say?”
When did her children see the erotic film? “I looked at my older son … and then at my younger son, I asked, 'Well, what did you think Miles?' He said, 'I thought it was great, Mom. But the stains remained.'”
'Bull Durham' Writer/Director Revealed In a 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter Sarandon almost wasn't in the movie.
He said at the time, “For some reason, the studio said Susan Sarandon was not on the list, which made no sense”, describing how studios have “lists” of bankable stars.
“And his agent kept calling. I couldn't tell him he wasn't on the list, because I would give away studio secrets. Then I'd be in trouble. So I'm lying. I'm trying to make my first movie and I've been lying from the start,” Ron Shelton said.
While the film was in preproduction, Sarandon traveled to the studio in Burbank, California, from Italy, where she was living at the time.
“She comes in all dressed up in a red and white tube dress. She looks gorgeous and she just got off a plane, a 10-hour flight. She comes in, and Kevin is there. She pushes me and Kevin verbally and physically. She's off the book, which means she knows her lines. She's Annie. She was Annie,” he added.
“We sat there and made a drink, I remember Kevin and the producers said: 'What are we going to do? She's not on the list. She's too good.'”
But, she was successful in convincing the studio to give her a chance.
“I found out later that she went straight to the studio from the audition… She worked the corridors until she got to all the important executives… She pretended she had some business there… (then she) went back to Italy, and when she got there, she had got the role.”
