Hollywood has labored onerous to shake off criticisms of nepotism inside the trade—and whereas Oscar-winning actor Kevin Costner is conscious that casting his 15-year-old son in an upcoming film performs into that narrative, he confirmed he simply wished some bonding time together with his child.
Costner stars in and has directed Horizon, a Western epic hitting theaters in June. The forged consists of the likes of Sienna Miller and Sam Worthington, but in addition Costner’s teenage son Hayes.
Talking to the In the present day present this week, the Dances with Wolves star made it clear he was conscious how casting his son might be interpreted. He stated: “I’ve not shoved my kids into the enterprise. I understand there’s so many younger actors on the market that might simply kill to be on this film. And I don’t need to take these elements away from them simply because I can place my very own kids in.
“But in this instance because it was a smaller part I selfishly wanted him with me for the week, two weeks 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.”
The junior Costner—who his father describes as a “beautiful boy”—joins a raft of different well-known offspring who’ve entered the household enterprise of their mother and father’ footsteps. Some, like singer Lenny Kravitz’s daughter Zoe, identified for her roles in The Batman and Mad Max: Fury Highway say it’s “utterly regular“.
Others, resembling Euphoria star Maude Apetow—daughter of actor Leslie Mann and director Judd Apetow—say they really feel they need to work more durable to earn their place among the many Hollywood elite. Apetow informed Selection in 2020: “I definitely get why people would be mad at me, but I will literally spend the rest of my life trying to prove myself and work twice as hard.”
Actor Ben Stiller—the son of actors/comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara—stated the trade is a “meritocracy.” Following a back-and-forth with movie producer Franklin Leonard—who highlighted a undertaking that includes a raft of well-known kids—Stiller posted on X: “I would bet they all have faced challenges. Different than those with no access to the industry. Show biz as we all know is pretty rough, and ultimately is a meritocracy.”
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Regardless of elevated scrutiny of the household bushes creeping by means of Tinseltown, range within the trade hasn’t improved between 2002 and 2022, in accordance with a examine from USC Annenberg College for Communication and Journalism.
The examine revealed in August final 12 months discovered there was “no progress” for women and girls on display screen and “limited progress” for protagonists of colour on display screen. The report additionally discovered 42% of LGBQT+ characters had been underrepresented on movie, with simply 1.9% of all talking characters depicted with a incapacity.
Alternatively, Costner may be doing what tens of millions of different American mother and father do frequently: take their children to work. Round 37 million folks participate in ‘Take Your Kids to Work Day’, Forbes experiences, to present children an perception into the working world.
Hayes—who shares his title with the primary character within the movie—additionally isn’t the primary Costner offspring to look in one in all their father’s films, together with his elder kids showing in minor roles in earlier works resembling The Bodyguard and The Postman.
‘We’ll do our personal factor’
Costner, 69, defined his different kids (Annie, Lily, Joe, Liam, Cayden and Grace) additionally supported the making of Horizon—although otherwise.
That’s as a result of the daddy—reportedly value $250 million, per Movie star Web Price—remortgaged his personal home to finance the film, insisting he wouldn’t be “controlled” by the “pile” of belongings he has amassed over time.
“I never thought I would have any money to begin with,” he stated, including that if he needed to “risk” a few of the issues he liked it was value it to convey one thing new to his viewers.
“I’m going to keep enough so that I’m going to be okay the rest of my life, and my children will be, but if they want to make their pile grow bigger they can,” he continued. “All of them said to me: ‘Dad don’t worry about us. We’ll do our own thing, we just want you to be happy.’”
Excessive schooler Hayes Costner echoed his father’s sentiment when discussing their work, telling Individuals in an interview launched yesterday that filming was “the greatest way that we could bond over something we both love and to create lasting memories together.”
The younger Costner didn’t affirm whether or not or not he’d be committing to a profession in performing, including that his “favorite time” together with his father is when the cameras stopped rolling and the Robin Hood star snapped again into “dad mode.”
