Kevin Costner loves his children. He is a proud father of seven. He cast 15-year-old Hayes in the first installment of his four part passion project, Horizon: An American Saga. Hayes has never acted before.
Hayes plays the small role of Nathaniel Kittredge. Kevin’s character is named Hayes. Kevin named his son after this character, which shows how long he has been working on this project. Kevin opened about the experience on two Today appearances in June 2024.
Kevin was just a dad who wanted to spend time with his kid. "He’s a beautiful boy and he’s quiet," Kevin told Savannah Guthrie on June 17, 2024. "I have not shoved my children into the business. I realize there [are] so many young actors out there that would just kill to be in this movie. I don’t want to take those parts away from them just because I can place my own children in."
Kevin didn't set his son up to fail. "But since it was a smaller part, I selfishly wanted him with me," he explained. "For the two weeks that he was with me, we would drive to the set every day and he would whisper. He didn’t have a lot of experience, but he’s really beautiful in the movie."
Kevin couldn’t stop gushing to Savannah about Hayes’ performance in the film. He didn’t want to give too much away though. "It’s a really complicated scene. In the end, there’s a nobility, there’s an absolute fatalness about it. It’s what you want in a son," he explained. "It’s what you don’t want a son to do, and at the end of the day, you’re proud that he would make that choice."
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Kevin also opened up about this to Hoda Kotb on June 20, 2024. "For a few weeks, we would drive to work every day and then going home at night, because he was inexperienced about a lot of things, he’d go, 'How did I do today?' And I said, 'You did good,'" Kevin recalled. It was so special for the two to connect that way.
