Kevin Costner Named Son After His Passion Project Character And He’s Making His Acting Debut

With Hayes being 15 years old, readers may already be doing the math of just how long Costner has wanted to bring his Western epic to the big screen.

With the first two films in what Costner hopes to be a four-part franchise arriving this summer, the leading star and director has finally accomplished something more than two decades in the making.

Kevin Costner revealed that his desire to dive into the years of the Westward Expansion was years upon years in the making and that he fell in love with the name of his leading character, Hayes Ellison, so much that he passed it on to his son.

Things get even more sentimental when you learn that not only is the actor’s child connected to his dad’s latest project by way of name but that he also appears in the movie. The title serves as Hayes Costner’s grand debut into the world of acting where he plays the son of Sienna Miller’s character – a connection that we saw in the movie’s first trailer.

Shortly before the wheels really got turning on Horizon, Kevin Costner said that he looked at his son and realized that he wasn’t getting any younger. The actor, director, and producer has a multitude of credits to his name and has, in recent years, stayed incredibly busy with the Taylor Sheridan-created smash-hit TV series, Yellowstone.

We also know that Costner’s wake-up call for Horizon coincided with the actor’s decision to step down from his role as John Dutton on Yellowstone, which will return to screens in November for the final batch of episodes.

From what we previously learned surrounding Kevin Costner’s run on Yellowstone, the actor was heavily removed from the latter half of the upcoming fifth season because he was fully into production for Horizon.

There were also rumors swirling that he and Sheridan had some creative differences on the TV series, which also led to the actor’s decision to step away from the part. With four films up his sleeve for the Western saga, Kevin Costner simply doesn’t have time to balance a TV show and when it comes down to it, we’re sure working with his son would come out as the clear winner any day.

While the stars were lining up to take a seat at the reading table for Kevin Costner’s latest project, the actor admits that his son didn’t need to follow through with the audition process.

Costner admits that he wanted to experience what it would be like to work with his kiddo on set and to direct him, noting that the pair never shared any on-screen moments together. He also teases that Hayes is “very good in this small part that he’s done,” foreshadowing that perhaps Hayes’ character meets an untimely demise in the first movie.

Along with Kevin Costner’s son, and the Academy Award-winning performer, Horizon: An American Saga also features performances from Sam Worthington, Danny Huston, Jena Malone, Giovanni Ribsi, and Michael Rooker.

The first film in the series arrives in cinemas on June 28 with the second title’s debut less than two months later on August 16.
Source: Entertainment Tonight