Kevin Costner & 'Horizon' Cast on Making Film They Hope Will "Live on Forever" | THR News Video

When I feel like I like a movie, I feel like audiences will will like it. And when I saw Horizon, I just felt strongly that the world and and America in particular could go West with me and feel like they saw things in a way they'd never seen them before. Kevin Costner's Horizon and American Saga is a multi faceted story that covers the expansion and settlement of the American West during the Civil War. Director, Co writer and star Costner, as well as other members of the film's cast including Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Luke Wilson and Jamie Campbell Bauer, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter all about working on the Western. This film has a huge ensemble cast and there are several different storylines going on at the same time. Why did you think it was important to tell all of these stories in this film? It was more interesting to me that people are coming for different reasons, that people who are coming don't even know each other, that people who are going to end up in Horizon had no idea that we're going to end up in Horizon. That circumstance played a large part in in and how people's lives were changed in the West. Costner plays the character Hayes Ellison in the film, but he's also the mastermind behind the project that he's dreamed of bringing to the big screen since 1988. How would you describe Kevin Costner as a director? I love Kevin. I think he's, his passion is unbridled. He's so, so an encyclopaedia of knowledge. You could ask him anything about this moment in history and he would have an answer. He's really forensically examined it, and it's his passion. And so you just feel swept up in all of that. Yeah, he's very particular director because I think he's lived with this for so long. So he actually, he knows how detailed he wants each beat and he he knows exactly what he wants. He has an extraordinary generosity of spirit, which he imbues in every person that he hires on these films, not just the actors, but the background and the artisans. He really had so much trust and belief in US and in himself and imbued that to every single person on set. And that felt like there was this infectious energy that we were all creating. Something that he said, you know, from hope to live on forever, you know, as a director, really sensitive guy. And it makes me think bad back to talking to Kevin. You know, he it took him six years to get his SAG card and he also worked as the stage manager of Raleigh Studios. So he has almost this kind of old fashioned kind of history in Hollywood where I think he he doesn't take anything for granted. Kevin, of course, is the director of this film, but you also both got to act opposite him. How would you compare working with Kevin as a fellow actor to as a director? I found that he's quite a different man as an actor and as a director. As a director, he's a very, he's a very powerful man. He's a very strong leader. He's got a lot of energy. He's very playful. He's kind of seems to be running about all over the place. And then as an actor, he's a lot gentler and calmer. Ditto. Yeah, I know they're beautiful. He's just super generous. I mean, I mean, a lot of my stuff is with him, you know, so I, I, I had, I had both Kevin, the director and the actor. And we're, you know, we're figuring each other out as actors in the scene and in that moment and how our hearts are responding. And he's obviously also thinking about how he's going to shoot this, what he wants from it. And that's a really different dynamic. I've never worked with an actor director before. So it's very, very special, super special, man. I'll come try you. I will take from you until you are wiped clean from this leg. I'm just saying there's something you might want to keep in mind. Horizon has been dubbed a passion project for Costner, who now famously put in $38 million of his own money to help make the film series. There's so many headlines already surrounding this movie, from how much of your own money you've put into it to the critical response. But behind it all, it's a film that you're clearly really passionate about and that you really stand behind. Why are you so passionate about this project, and why do you think audiences are going to love it? I don't know why I it's just speaks to me out loud and that's been my kind of guide, my North star of anything I've done. I thought Field of Dreams was good. You know what, I thought Tin Cup was good. I thought Bull Durham was a really nice movie and Bodyguard was a movie that wasn't going to be made. It was written 17 years earlier. No Way Out was a movie called Finish with Engines. It would been written long. No one was going to make it. So when I feel like I like a movie, I feel like audiences will will like it. And when I saw Horizon, I just felt strongly that that the world and, and America in particular could go West with me and feel like they saw things in a way they'd never seen it before. Horizon and American Saga Chapter One hits theaters Friday. Chapter 2 is set to be released later this summer on August 16th. For more on the Horizon Saga, head to thr.com for The Hollywood Reporter News. I'm Tiffany Taylor.