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Hollywood has worked hard to shake off criticisms of nepotism within the industry\u2014and while Oscar-winning actor Kevin Costner is aware that casting his 15-year-old son in an upcoming movie plays into that narrative, he confirmed he just wanted some bonding time with his kid. <\/p>\n
Costner stars in and has directed Horizon<\/em>, a Western epic hitting theaters in June. The cast includes the likes of Sienna Miller and Sam Worthington, but also Costner\u2019s teenage son Hayes.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Today<\/em> show<\/a> this week, the Dances with Wolves<\/em> star made it clear he was aware how casting his son could be interpreted. He said: \u201cI have not shoved my children into the business. I realize there\u2019s so many young actors out there that would just kill to be in this movie. And I don\u2019t want to take those parts away from them just because I can place my own children in.<\/p>\n \u201cBut 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\u2019t have a lot of experience but he\u2019s really beautiful in the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n The junior Costner\u2014who his father describes as a \u201cbeautiful boy\u201d\u2014joins a raft of other famous offspring who have entered the family business in their parents\u2019 footsteps. Some, like singer Lenny Kravitz\u2019s daughter Zoe, known for her roles in The Batman<\/em> and Mad Max: Fury Road<\/em> say it\u2019s \u201ccompletely normal<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n Others, such as Euphoria<\/em> star Maude Apetow\u2014daughter of actor Leslie Mann and director Judd Apetow\u2014say they feel they have to work harder to earn their place among the Hollywood elite. Apetow told Variety<\/em><\/a> in 2020: \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Actor Ben Stiller\u2014the son of actors\/comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara\u2014said the industry is a \u201cmeritocracy.\u201d Following a back-and-forth with film producer Franklin Leonard\u2014who highlighted a project featuring a raft of famous children\u2014Stiller posted on X<\/a>: \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite increased scrutiny of the family trees creeping through Tinseltown, diversity in the industry hasn\u2019t improved between 2002 and 2022, according to a study<\/a> from USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.<\/p>\n The study published in August last year found there has been \u201cno progress\u201d for girls and women on screen and \u201climited progress\u201d for protagonists of color on screen. The report also found 42% of LGBQT+ characters were underrepresented on film, with just 1.9% of all speaking characters depicted with a disability.<\/p>\n On the other hand, Costner could also be doing what millions of other American parents do on a regular basis: take their kids to work. Around 37 million people take part in \u2018Take Your Kids to Work Day\u2019, Forbes<\/em> reports<\/a>, to give youngsters an insight into the working world. <\/p>\n Hayes\u2014who shares his name with the main character in the film\u2014also isn\u2019t the first Costner offspring to appear in one of their father\u2019s movies, with his elder children appearing in minor roles in earlier works such as The Bodyguard<\/em> and The Postman<\/em>.<\/p>\n Costner, 69, explained his other children (Annie, Lily, Joe, Liam, Cayden and Grace) also supported the making of Horizon<\/em>\u2014though in a different way.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because the father\u2014reportedly worth $250 million, per Celebrity Net Worth<\/a>\u2014remortgaged his own house to finance the movie, insisting he wouldn\u2019t be \u201ccontrolled\u201d by the \u201cpile\u201d of assets he has amassed over time. <\/p>\n \u201cI never thought I would have any money to begin with,\u201d he said, adding that if he had to \u201crisk\u201d some of the things he loved it was worth it to bring something new to his audience. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to keep enough so that I\u2019m 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<\/em> can,\u201d he continued. \u201cAll of them said to me: \u2018Dad don\u2019t worry about us. We\u2019ll do our own thing, we just want you to be happy.’\u201d<\/p>\n High schooler Hayes Costner echoed his father\u2019s sentiment when discussing their work, telling People<\/a><\/em> in an interview released yesterday that filming was \u201cthe greatest way that we could bond over something we both love and to create lasting memories together.\u201d<\/p>\n The young Costner didn\u2019t confirm whether or not he\u2019d be committing to a career in acting, adding that his \u201cfavorite time\u201d with his father is when the cameras stopped rolling and the Robin Hood<\/em> star snapped back into \u201cdad mode.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nDiversity problems<\/h2>\n
\u2018We\u2019ll do our own thing\u2019<\/h2>\n