Kevin Costner reflects on Whitney Houston on his birthday; 'We lost such a light'

Kevin Costner feels lucky to be celebrating another birthday. The filmmaker and actor celebrated his 70th birthday on January 18th. 

To commemorate the occasion, he shared a post of himself and his close friend Whitney Houston on the set of "The Bodyguard," sharing a message that illustrated their friendship and how special of a person she was. 

The photo showed Costner, Hoston, and Ellin La Var, who styled Houston's hair in the film. The three look young and happy and are smiling for the camera, with Costner having his arm wrapped around Houston. 

He wore a black jacket, a white polo shirt, and jeans, while she wore an all-black outfit. 

“This photo reminds me of how lucky I am to be getting another birthday,” Costner wrote in the post, which he shared on his Instagram stories. 

“We lost such a light when we lost Whitney.”

The photo was originally shared by Houston's Instagram account, which is now managed by her estate. “Happy birthday to Kevin Costner!,” reads the caption.

“A behind-the-scenes photo from ‘The Bodyguard’ with Kevin, Whitney and Ellin LaVar, Whitney’s hairstylist for the film.”

Costner often reminisces about Houston and her talent

"The Bodyguard" was released in 1992, becoming a box-office success and launching one of the world's most famous songs: Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You." 

The song and the film launched Houston's career to incredible heights, making her one of the most influential artists in the world. It also resulted in the friendship between Houston and Costner, one that would prevail over the years. Their love was such that Costner was one of the speakers at her funeral.

"I don't think we'll ever forget when that little song came out, that she just blew up,” said Costner in 2022, in an interview with PEOPLE. “She sang the first part of it a cappella and musically the world was never the same."

"We have a moment of her in that movie we'll never ever forget that and I think that when movies are working at their best, that's what can happen," he said.