Kevin Costner has revealed Princess Diana was up for starring in The Bodyguard 2, but was concerned about getting intimate with her co-star.
Kevin - who starred in the original 1992 film alongside Whitney Houston - revealed the sequel would reportedly have centered on his titular character protecting Diana’s character from paparazzi and stalkers before developing romantic feelings for her.
“The studio liked the idea of doing a ′Bodyguard 2′ [with Diana] in the same kind of capacity as Whitney [Houston],” Kevin said on a recent episode of PeopleTV’s Couch Surfing.
“Nobody really knew that for about a year.”
Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997, was apparently interested in making this her first acting role, but she expressed some concerns when she spoke with Kevin.
According to the American actor, he got the script for the sequel the day before the princess died, but the pair had spoken on the phone before her tragic death.
He recalls: “I just remember her being incredibly sweet on the phone, and she asked the question, she goes, ‘Are we going to have, like a kissing scene?’”
“She said it in a very respectful… She was a little nervous because her life was very governed. And I said, ‘Yeah, there’s going to be a little bit of that, but we can make that okay too.’”
The Hollywood star also revealed that it was another member of the royal family, Sarah Ferguson, AKA Fergie, who set up the meeting between himself and Diana.
“Sarah was really important,” he said. “I always respect Sarah because she’s the one that set up the conversation between me and Diana. She was the one that set it up, and she never said, ‘Well, what about me? I’m a princess too.’ She was just so supportive of the idea.”
The actor first revealed that Diana nearly starred in The Bodyguard 2 in an interview with Anderson Cooper in 2012.
He said at the time: “Diana and I had been talking about doing Bodyguard 2. I told her I would take care of her just the same way that I took care of Whitney. She wanted me to write it for her. I said ‘I’ll tailor it for you if you’re interested.’ She goes: ‘I am interested.’”