In 1989, they built it and audiences came in droves.
“Field of Dreams” is celebrating its 35th anniversary this month.
The iconic, Academy Award-nominated movie was brought back into the spotlight during this year’s Oscars in March, when comedian John Mulaney, who was presenting the award for best sound, joked about the 1989 film starring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta and James Earl Jones, giving an overly long explanation of the movie’s plot.
“What about that moment in ‘Field of Dreams’ where we hear ‘If you build it, he will come,’ and then Costner does it, he builds a baseball field,” Mulaney said while discussing the importance of sound in films. “Or I guess he doesn’t build it — he mows down corn, and then there is a field, and he’s like, ‘I’m going to watch ghosts play baseball,’ and the bank is like, ‘You wanna pay your mortgage?’ And he’s like, ‘Nah, I’m gonna watch ghosts play baseball.'”
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From left to right, Kevin Costner, Gaby Hoffmann and Burt Lancaster in a scene from “Field Of Dreams.” (Universal/Getty Images)
He continued, to laughs from the audience, “And then he finds James Earl Jones who wrote ‘The Boat Rocker,’ which I thought was a real book deep into my 20s, and he’s like, ‘People will come, Ray.’ He’s the only one with a financial plan.
“But what’s weird is Timothy Busfield pushes little Gaby Hoffman off the bleachers, and she falls down, and she’s unconscious. Then Burt Lancaster is ‘Moonlight’ Graham, and he comes up, and he pats her on the back a couple of times, and he’s like ‘Hot dog stuck in the throat,’ and then he can’t go back in the game. ‘Cause I guess there’s a rule in ghost baseball that if you leave the field at any point to become an elderly ghost and do the Heimlich maneuver, you can’t return to the field. I love ‘Field of Dreams.’ That should win best picture, though they’ll probably go with one of this year’s.”
Costner later reposted a video of Mulaney’s bit on his X account, writing, “Not a bad summary” with a laughing emoji.
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Here is what Costner and the rest of the “Field of Dreams” cast are doing today.
Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner played Ray Kinsella in “Field of Dreams.” (Universal/Jerod Harris/Getty Images for CinemaCon)
Costner, 69, was 33 as Ray, the lead character in “Field of Dreams.” The role came on the heels of making classics like “The Untouchables” (1987) and “Bull Durham” (1988).
Two years later, in 1991, Costner won two Academy Awards for “Dances With Wolves” for best director and best picture. He was also nominated for best actor for the 1990 drama.
He later starred in “The Bodyguard” (1992), “Tin Cup” (1996), “Mr. Brooks” (2007) and “Hidden Figures” (2016), among many others.
Most recently, he starred as family patriarch John Dutton in Paramount Plus’ “Yellowstone.”
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Costner has seven children, who range in age from 40 to 13, and recently finalized his divorce from second wife, Christine Baumgartner.
Ray Liotta
Ray Liotta died in May 2022. (George Rose/Getty Images)
Liotta played early 20th century MLB player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams.” He is perhaps best known for his role in “Goodfellas,” which came out a year later, but he also has dozens of other TV and movie credits to his name, including “The Rat Pack” (1998), “Hannibal” (2001), “Identity” (2003), “Smokin’ Aces,” (2006) and the series “Shades of Blue” (2016-2018).
Liotta died in 2022 at 67 years old, leaving behind a 25-year-old daughter, actress Karsen Liotta, and fiancée, Jacy Nittolo.
His final films, “Cocaine Bear” (2023), “Fool’s Paradise” (2023) and “Dangerous Waters” (2023) all came out posthumously.
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is now 93 years old. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images/Jemal Countess/Getty Images)
Jones, who turned 93 earlier this year, had already made a name for himself in “Dr. Strangelove” (1964), as the voice of Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” trilogy and as King Jeffe Joffer in “Coming to America” when he was cast as author Terence Mann in “Field of Dreams.”
He went on to make “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), “Patriot Games” (1992), “The Sandlot” (1993), “The Lion King” (1994) and continued to voice Darth Vader in “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” (2005), “Star Wars: Rebels” (2014-2016), “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” (2019), “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) (2016) and in the 2022 miniseries “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
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He also voiced Mufasa in the live-action remake of “The Lion King” (2019) and reprized his role as King Jaffe Joffer in “Coming 2 America” (2021).
Amy Madigan
Amy Madigan played Kevin Costner’s wife, Annie. (Universal/Getty Images/Mark Mainz/Getty Images)
Amy Madigan, 73, starred in the Oscar-nominated “Places in the Heart” – the same year she married her husband and co-star Ed Harris – and the rock musical “Streets of Fire” five years before she was cast as Costner’s wife, Annie. She also played John Candy’s girlfriend, Chanice, in “Uncle Buck” in 1989.
She was nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for 1985’s “Twice in a Lifetime” and in 1990, she won a Golden Globe for her role in the TV movie “Roe. vs. Wade.”
After “Field of Dreams,” she was in “The Dark Half” (1993), “Female Perversions” (1996), “A Bright Shining Lie” (1998), “Pollack” (2000), which starred her husband, and “Gone Baby Gone” (2007).
She also starred in the 2003 to 2005 Emmy-nominated HBO period series “Carnivàle” and had a nine-episode stint on “Grey’s Anatomy” and an eight-episode run on “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” (2020).
Madigan and Harris have one daughter, Lily Harris, 30.
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Gaby Hoffman
Gaby Hoffman is now 42 years old. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images/Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Hoffman, 42, made her film debut as Costner’s daughter Karin in “Field of Dreams.”
She also starred with Madigan in “Uncle Buck” the same year and continued to work in “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993), “Now and Then” (1995) and “Volcano” (1997).
As an adult, she starred in “Veronica Mars” (2014) with Kristen Bell, “Wild” with Reese Witherspoon (2014), the Amazon series “Transparent” (2014-2019) and the HBO series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” (2022-2023). She also had an eight-episode arc on “Girls” (2014-2017).
Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster was born in 1913 and died in 1994. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
“Field of Dreams” was one of Burt Lancaster’s last films following an illustrious career that included “Sorry, Wrong Number” (1948), “Vengeance Alley” (1951), “From Here to Eternity” (1953), “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” (1957) “The Unforgiven” (1960), “Airport” (1970), and “The Island of Dr. Moreau” (1977).
His final role was in the miniseries “Separate but Equal” (1991), starring alongside Sidney Poitier.
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He shared five children with his second wife, Norma Anderson, and died in 1994 of a heart attack at 80 years old.