Kevin Costner gushed about the performance of his teenage son Hayes in his new film Horizon: An American Saga on Tuesday on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC.
The 69-year-old actor was asked by Jimmy, 56, if he had to pay his 15-year-old son Hayes to be in the movie that Kevin stars in, co-wrote, directed and produced.
‘He didn’t have to audition,’ Kevin quipped.
‘Listen, I know these parts are so important in people’s career, so I don’t just hand them out like candy,’ he added.
‘Oh, I was going to ask if I could be in it,’ Jimmy joked.
Kevin Costner gushed about the performance of his teenage son Hayes in his new film Horizon: An American Saga on Tuesday on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC
Kevin continued that he wanted Hayes for the movie, but with a part that wasn’t too big for him.
‘It was something I could have him with me,’ Kevin said.
Kevin portrays Hayes Ellison in the epic Western and said he started working on it back in 1988.
‘In 2024, I’m finally making it. But I named my son Hayes. And he was 13 years old and I thought, I really have to make this movie. And I looked at him, and I said, ”You know, I want you to be in this movie.” If you see it, it’s a devastating moment. It’s a moment you never want to have to experience, but the choice that he makes also will put a lump in your throat. When you see what he does,’ Kevin said.
‘And movies can be about that. They can. They can be about things we never, ever forget if you get them right,’ he added.
Horizon: An American Saga premiered on Sunday at the 77th Cannes Film Festival and received a 10-minute standing ovation that left Kevin teary-eyed.
Jimmy asked what was going through his head while the long applause was happening.
‘I actually started walking my life backwards for a second. I kind of went back to the beginning and wondering, you know, how I even ended up at a place like that. We all have these dreams where we want to be. And I’ve had my own. And I’ve taken some really big bites out of life. And life has taken some pretty big ones out of me,’ Kevin said.
The 69-year-old actor and son Hayes, 15, are shown on Sunday at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France
Jimmy, 56, asked if he had to pay his son Hayes to be in the movie that Kevin stars in, co-wrote, directed and produced
‘He didn’t have to audition,’ Kevin quipped
‘But, I just, you know, I kind of just keep going. And when they started the clap and they didn’t stop, I didn’t really know what. And I didn’t f***ing cry. I didn’t cry. My eyes were full,’ Kevin said to laughter from the audience.
‘Your eyes were just full?,’ Jimmy asked.
‘They were full,’ Kevin said.
‘But I was moved by what happened in France. I was moved by the biggest film festival in the world,’ Kevin said.
Jimmy also asked Kevin about bringing five of his seven children to the Cannes premiere: Lily, 37, Grace, 13, Cayden, 17, Hayes and Annie, 40.
‘Yeah, I wanted them to see me work. I brought five of them and got them tuxedos, I bought them dresses,’ Kevin said.
Kevin said he was looking forward to them watching him work and supporting him.
‘And the minute they got there, my two sons went fishing. Got a boat, went fishing. My three daughters ended up on a boat, said they would see me around 3 or 4 o’clock, me working. And then made a call, they were drinking drinks at this point. So they cruised in about 8 o’clock at night. I’ve been working. I said, ”We came to France to be as a family.” They go, ”It’s working great, dad”,’ Kevin said.
Kevin got teary-eyed while Horizon got a 10-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival
‘But, I just, you know, I kind of just keep going. And when they started the clap and they didn’t stop, I didn’t really know what. And I didn’t f***ing cry. I didn’t cry. My eyes were full,’ Kevin said to laughter from the audience
Jimmy also asked Kevin about bringing five of his seven children to the Cannes premiere: Lily, 37, Hayes, Grace, 13, Cayden, 17, and Annie, 40
‘And the minute they got there, my two sons went fishing. Got a boat, went fishing. My three daughters ended up on a boat, said they would see me around 3 or 4 o’clock, me working. And then made a call, they were drinking drinks at this point. So they cruised in about 8 o’clock at night. I’ve been working. I said, ”We came to France to be as a family.” They go, ”It’s working great, dad”,’ Kevin said
Kevin said his children asked what they would do next and he replied, ”I don’t know, we need your tour director to figure that out.’
The Hollywood actor was joined by daughters Annie and Lily whom he shares with ex-wife Cindy Silva. Costner’s son Joe, 36 — also from his first marriage to Silva — was not present.
His youngest kids, Cayden, Hayes and Grace, were also there and their mother is ex-wife Christine.
Kevin and Bridget Rooney’s son, Liam, 26, was also absent from the red carpet event.
The Field Of Dreams star mortgaged his Santa Barbara estate in order to help finance the $100M passion project and also said he has put $38M of his own money into the films.
Horizon: An American Saga is scheduled to be released in theaters on June 28, with Chapter 2 being released on August 16.
Kevin said he was getting back to work on Wednesday on Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 is in development.
Horizon: An American Saga is scheduled to be released in theaters on June 28, with Chapter 2 being released on August 16
Costner was pictured while arriving at a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Hollywood on Tuesday. The performer was greeted by fans as he made his way towards the show’s studio
The actor also signed several posters prior to the start of the taping
The star of The Postman kept it casual while wearing a white shirt underneath a black half-zip jacket
Costner also wore a pair of white pants, as well as a black cap and matching sunglasses
The three-hour-long western movie has received some scathing reviews and a very low score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film has a staggeringly low 20 percent on the Tomatometer – which represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show.
As the movie has not actually been released yet, it’s yet to produce an Audience Score, which represents the percentage of users who have rated a movie or TV show positively.
Sienna Miller is among the star-studded ensemble cast that also includes Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt, Jamie Campbell Bower and Thomas Haden Church, among many others.