Kevin Costner at VMX 2025: Finding your heart

Kevin Costner, the Academy Award-winning actor, director, and producer, took center stage to deliver his keynote address and kickoff VMX 2025 in Orlando, Florida. Costner drew parallels between his life’s journey and the calling that drives the work of veterinary professionals with an inspiring speech about finding and embracing your purpose.

Costner began by reflecting on his career and the struggle to discover his path. He shared how his upbringing in a blue-collar family shaped his work ethic and worldview but left him searching for something deeper. “I was probably going to be a manual labor guy. I’m not that smart,” he said. “But I would play piano. I was raised in a church, [and] I sang in the choirs. I wrote poetry and I didn’t tell anybody about that. I just did it. I don’t know why.”

He continued: “At one point, I started getting a little desperate. I still hadn’t [found my calling], but all I had to do was look back at the breadcrumbs of my life, and I started to understand that I was a storyteller, a daydreamer.”

This realization didn’t come easily. Costner spoke candidly about the challenges of aligning his passions with his professional life. Even after making it as an actor and becoming famous, he was determined to not less promises of money or success get in the way of his love for making art he felt strongly about. “I’ve used my own money to chase my own dreams,” he said. “Because once I found my heart, I wasn’t going to let anybody take it away from me, no matter how much money was on the line.”