Kevin Costner Recalls 'Real' Moment Filming Field of Dreams with Ray Liotta in Touching Tribute
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Kevin Costner is mourning the loss of his Field of Dreams costar Ray Liotta, who died on Thursday.
"Devastated to hear the news of Ray Liotta's passing," Costner, 67, wrote on Twitter. "While he leaves an incredible legacy, he'll always be 'Shoeless Joe Jackson' in my heart."
The Yellowstone star shared a clip of the 1989 baseball classic. In the scene, Shoeless Joe Jackson (Liotta) hits the baseball twice. The first shot almost hits Ray Kinsella (Costner) before he swerves, while the second shot soars high and falls into the field of corn.
"What happened that moment in the film was real," he added of the scene, admitting that it was not planned and his reaction was genuine during filming. "God gave us that stunt. Now God has Ray."
Devastated to hear the news of Ray Liotta’s passing. While he leaves an incredible legacy, he’ll always be “Shoeless Joe Jackson” in my heart. What happened that moment in the film was real. God gave us that stunt. Now God has Ray. pic.twitter.com/JQmk1PsuSK
— Kevin Costner & MW (@modernwest) May 26, 2022
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The Goodfellas actor died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, PEOPLE confirmed on Thursday. He was engaged to fiancée Jacy Nittolo, and he was dad to daughter Karsen, 23, with ex-wife Michelle Grace. He was 67.
A source told PEOPLE no foul play is suspected in his death and that Nittolo was with him when he passed.
Deadline was first to report the news.
Prior to this death, the actor was filming the movie Dangerous Waters. In recent years, he also appeared in the Sopranos prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark and the Amazon Prime series Hanna.
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In 2004, Liotta opened up to the New York Post about learning how to play baseball for Field of Dreams, admitting his character hit lefty while he was a righty.
"For a month, I was batting left-handed and throwing right-handed," Liotta said. "So one day the director came down to see how I was doing and I could see them mumbling and saying stuff and looking over and they said, 'Do you mind? It doesn't matter if it is historically accurate.' So they made me go right-handed and left-handed."
"I regret it because I'm a bug, making sure things are accurate," Liotta added. "There used to be Monday Night Baseball and they were talking about the movie and how wonderful the movie was and some announcer who shall remain nameless said, 'Yeah, but Shoeless Joe was batting the wrong way.' "
RELATED: Martin Scorsese Remembers Goodfellas Star Ray Liotta After His Death: 'He Absolutely Amazed Me'
Liotta spoke to PEOPLE in November about how his personality differed from the tough-guy roles he played in movies including Goodfellas.
"I have never been in a fight at all, except for during sports, and that's just pushing and goofy kid stuff," he said at the time.
"It's weird how this business works, because I've definitely had a career that's up and down," he added. "For some reason, I've been busier this year than I have in all the years that I've been doing this. And I still feel I'm not there yet. I just think there's a lot more."