Kevin Costner likes to jam. It's a role that not even Wikipedia, which
describes him as an "American actor, musician, producer and director",
appears to have fully comprehended.
"For a long time now I have felt the need to connect with people in a more
meaningful way than just the autograph. I always felt that music could
build a stronger, more personal moment," the star-cum-crooner
explains on the official website of Modern West, the rock-cum-country band he recently formed with the "encouragement" of his wife Christine.
"It [music] would create the opportunity for a genuine exchange much
greater than the movie, TV interview or magazine. It would be real, full of
mistakes and without apology."
Since flying into Athens for a concert in front of 11,000 fans last night (15 October), the silver-haired Costner hasn't stopped rhapsodising about his "new self".
"I'm really excited to show people a new side of myself that they are not
aware of," he told Greece's state-run TV station NET, before asking the
interviewer whether he, too, would be attending the concert. In Athens, at least, the new guise appears to have paid off: local DJs are proclaiming him "the new Springsteen".
But Costner, who stepped on to the tarmac with guitar in hand, hasn't had it so easy in Turkey, the next stop on the group's world tour and the country
where, curiously, he first performed with Modern West in October 2007.
This is because Costner also has another role, one that Wikipedia has
overlooked completely, of the actor-cum-crooner-cum-political activist.
By daring to dip his toes in the treacherous waters of Turkish politics and endorse the government's drive to improve the lot of the nation's Kurdish minority, the actor has managed to not only upset nationalists but according to the Hürriyet Daily News, thousands of people who paid £112 to see him play in Istanbul. Fans were told the concert, due to be performed tonight, would have to be cancelled to avoid further commotion.
Costner, whose image was recently used to relaunch Turkish Airlines
(the concert's main sponsor) has yet to comment. But in Turkey, his fans may also be wondering whether Costner, the American actor, musician, producer and director, has also gone a role too far.
