Kevin Costner is one proud dad, on the verge of seeing his 15-year-old son Hayes make his screen debut with the long-awaited Horizon: An American Saga.
The 69-year-old's epic Western is set to be released in theaters on June 28, and while Hayes is already making an early splash with his debut, he's not sure whether he'd easily extend that to all of his kids.
The former Yellowstone star is a dad of seven, sharing Annie, 40, Lily, 37, and Joe, 36, with ex-wife Cindy Silva, Liam, 27, with ex-girlfriend Bridget Rooney, and Cayden, 17, Hayes, and Grace, 14, with ex-wife Christine Baumgartner.
Kevin appeared on the latest installment of The Kelly Clarkson Show to speak about the passion project, which has been in development for decades, and having his son in it.
"Do you love working with your kids in movies?" Kelly asked, to which he responded: "Well, I don't automatically put them in, because there are lots of kids around this country that would die to be in a movie, they work hard in their craft."
"Mine have just grown up in this world that I have actually kept them from," he explained. "So I don't give these parts out like candy to my children, knowing that they have a value."
Kevin emphasized that it wasn't just a matter of whether they could handle the pressure, but also being able to capably convince audiences that they were right for the job. "Plus a person has to deliver in really critical situations and acting isn't that easy."
He shared, though, that he was proud to have his youngest son by his side for the project, and even went into detail on his pivotal scene in the epic, which he called "debilitating."
"When I had the chance to have my son close to me, I did. It's a really debilitating scene when you watch it. It's very, very powerful, it kind of breaks your heart and gives you an amount of pride for a son who said, 'I will stay with my father till the end.'"
He expressed a similar sentiment during his appearance on the Today Show earlier this month, saying: "I have not shoved my children into the business. 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]."
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The Dances with Wolves star added, though, that he was motivated primarily by the desire to have Hayes work with him. "In this instance, it was a smaller part. I selfishly wanted him with me for the week, two weeks he was with me."
He further gushed over his teenager's "beautiful" performance in the "really complicated" scene he was cast for. Hayes and Kevin star in Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 alongside Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Danny Huston, Jena Malone, and more.