Throughout his four decades of being a father, Kevin Costner never expected for any of his seven kids to follow in his footsteps, but he's happy one of them is featured in his long-awaited passion project.
The Yellowstone actor, 69, is weeks away from releasing the first installment of Horizon: An American Saga, a four-part film extravaganza all about the history of the American West, which he self-funded.
In addition to himself and fellow cast members Sienna Miller, Jena Malone, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Sam Worthington, among others, the director's son Hayes, who he shares with ex-wife Christine Baumgarter, also has a special cameo.
During an appearance on the Today Show on Monday, June 17, Kevin opened up to host Savannah Guthrie about his decision to cast Hayes, 15, and how it came to be.
"I have not shoved my children into the business," he first noted, adding: "I realize there's so many young actors that would just kill to be in this movie and I don't want to take those parts away from them just 'cause I can place my own children in [it]."
Still, he said: "In this instance, it was a smaller part. I selfishly wanted him with me for the week, two weeks he was with me."
The filming of Horizon, which took place in Kevin's developing filming compound in Utah, largely happened just as the notorious Yellowstone scheduling drama unfolded, and as he was thrust into an acrimonious legal battle over the terms of his divorce from ex Christine, which included spousal, child support and custody disputes.
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"He's a beautiful boy and he's quiet," the doting dad further gushed, adding that Hayes accomplished a "really beautiful" performance in what he described as "a really complicated scene."
In addition to Hayes, Kevin also shares Cayden, 17, and Grace, 14, with Christine, plus Annie, 40, Lily, 37, and Joe, 36 with his ex-wife Cindy Silva, to whom he was married from 1978 to 1994, and Liam, 26, with former partner Bridget Rooney.
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Though the first part of Horizon only just premiered in Cannes this year, Kevin has been working on it for so long that in fact Hayes was named after a character his dad wrote for the project before he was born in 2009.
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Speaking with Entertainment Tonight in April, he joked: "I was watching him grow up and I was thinking, 'Man I better get with it and make this movie.'"
"He's very good in the small part that he's done," he added, and emphasized that in spite of the brevity of the role, he nonetheless has a real "impact" on the movie.