EXCLUSIVE: Ancestry reveals Kevin Costner is related to Civil War Union soldier

In Kevin Costner's case, it seems his love for the Civil War era runs in his family genes.

The actor, producer and director, whose new film, “Horizon: An American Saga,” comes out June 28, is a descendent of a Civil War soldier, John F. Tedrick, Ancestry exclusively reveals to TODAY.com.

The genealogy company found that Costner is related to a Union soldier who survived Andersonville Prison, the largest and deadliest Confederate prison during the Civil War. Tedrick is Costner’s second great-grandfather.

“We wanted to try and find a story in Kevin Costner’s tree to see if he had any real-life connections to the film that he was creating, so it’s almost like art imitates life,” Lisa Elzey, an Ancestry senior family historian shares with TODAY.com.

Andersonville, infamous for its harsh conditions, held 45,000 soldiers during the Civil War, with about 13,000 dying from disease, malnutrition and overcrowding, according to the National Park Service official website.

Elzey says the prison's commandant was later found guilty and executed for war crimes regarding the treatment of the soldiers.

“The fact that John survived that horrific place for a year and then was later released toward the end of the war is amazing,” Elzey says. “It’s an incredible tribute to Kevin Costner’s family resilience.”

Kevin Costner (Courtesy Ancestry.com)

Costner’s new film is over 30 years in the making, a project he described to TODAY on June 17 as “the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“When you go to the movies and it’s dark and it opens up, you need something magical to happen,” Costner said. “And when I read this, I started to see things I have not seen in Westerns before in the scope and reach and the humanity and the brutality and the ultimate clash between cultures, and I thought, well, that’s what I want to put forth.”

Set in the American West during the Civil War, the film “explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won — and lost — through the blood, sweat and tears of many,” according to a synopsis from Warner Bros.

Kevin Costner in

“To learn that he has a connection to those things that are really important to him — obviously he’s making films about them — I think is incredible and really shows off the power of ancestry and finding these stories,” Elzey said.

Ancestry uncovered Civil War records from other members of the “Horizon: American Saga” cast as well, including Jena Malone, Danny Huston and Luke Wilson.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com