The Emmy-nominated actor was just 7 when she played the young daughter of Costner’s character in the 1989 smash, which also starred Ray Liotta.
Gaby Hoffmann might have played the young daughter of Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams,” but she says their warm relationship on-screen did not extend to real life.
Speaking to Business Insider in an interview this week, Hoffmann recalled experiencing “a lot of paternal energy” on the set of the 1989 film.
When asked about working with Costner specifically, however, she had a succinct but telling response.
“I didn’t feel paternal energy from Kevin Costner,” the actor, now 42, said. “We’ll leave it at that.”
Hoffmann was just 7 years old when she played Karin Kinsella in “Field of Dreams,” which was directed by Phil Alden Robinson. The film follows Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Costner), who decides to build a professional baseball diamond on his property.
Though Ray’s neighbors assume he’s having a midlife crisis, his gamble has a supernatural payoff when the diamond begins to attract the ghosts of legendary baseball players, including “Shoeless Joe” Jackson (Ray Liotta).
“Field of Dreams” was both a critical and commercial smash, nabbing three Academy Award nominations. It also helped usher in a wave of baseball movies that culminated with 1992’s “A League of Their Own,” starring Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and Madonna.
After years as a successful child actor, Hoffmann took a hiatus from Hollywood in the early 2000s. In recent years, however, she’s enjoyed a bit of a professional resurgence, receiving Emmy Award nominations for supporting roles on “Girls” and “Transparent.” She can currently be seen opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in the Netflix series “Eric,” released this week.
Hoffmann had more positive things to say about fellow co-star Liotta, who died in 2022 at age 67.
“I just absolutely loved Ray,” she told Business Insider. “I was convinced he was in love with me, too, which, of course, he wasn’t, but he was just such a sweetheart.”
“I sort of jokingly said I had a big crush on him, but I think I was really drawn to a kind of fatherly, protective energy that he had in spades,” she continued. “What a beautiful actor he was, too.”
