Kevin Costner is supportive of his youngest son Hayes' acting career — he even cast him.
On TODAY With Hoda & Jenna June 20, Costner revealed what it was like to work on his new movie, “Horizon: An American Saga,” with Hayes, 15, and confirmed Hoda’s suspicion that it must have been an “incredible” experience.
“Yeah, and you know, he’s not grown up wanting to be an actor,” Costner said, adding that he hasn’t “pushed” any of his children into the profession.
When it came to “Horizon: An American Saga,” Costner said his son did a very good job playing a minor role on set.
“So 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,’” Costner recalled telling Hayes.
In addition to starring in the Western epic, Costner is also a writer, producer and director for the movie. The film is set to be released in two parts with “Chapter 1” premiering on June 28 and “Chapter 2” dropping Aug. 16.
Costner also talked about the film during a June 17 appearance on TODAY. He told Savannah Guthrie that his son’s role in the film came about because it’s minor and he didn’t believe this opportunity would take away from interested young actors. “Horizon” is Hayes’ first acting gig.
“He’s a beautiful boy and he’s quiet,” Costner told Savannah. “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.
“But since it was a smaller part, I selfishly wanted him with me. 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.”
Costner didn’t share many details about his son’s role — though he did name the lead character in “Horizon” after him — but did say that Hayes’ scene is “really complicated.”
“It's what you want in a son,” he added.
After the film's Cannes Film Festival premiere on May 19, Costner received a standing ovation with his family in attendance, a moment he previously said on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast that made him emotional.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” he told Savannah of the applause. “I looked to my left and there were my five children all dressed up looking at me. I really didn’t know what to do. All of a sudden I just shut out the noise.”
Hayes was present at the Cannes premiere, as well as Annie Costner, Cayden Wyatt Costner, Grace Avery Costner and Lily Costner. (The actor's two other kids, Joe Costner and Liam Costner, were not present.)
Kevin Costner first became a dad four decades ago. The actor has discussed how much fatherhood has meant to him in interviews over the years.
“You’ve got to get down on the ground and play with them,” he told People in November 2022. “And you teach them to be independent — and the sad part about that is they become that. I’m like any other parent: I’m trying to figure it out.”
The “Yellowstone” actor’s seven children range from 14 to 40 in age. He shares his first three children — Annie, Lily and Joe — with his first wife, Cindy Silva. They divorced in 1994. Kevin Costner later dated Bridget Rooney and they welcomed son Liam together. After remarrying Christine Baumgartner in 2004, Costner had three more children: Cayden, Hayes and Grace. Baumgartner filed for divorce from the actor in May 2023 after 18 years of marriage.
Here's more about Kevin Costner's children:
Annie Costner
- How old is she? 40
- Who are her parents? Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva, who were college sweethearts from Cal State Fullerton, according to the Los Angeles Times.
- Where does she fall in the age lineup? Annie Costner is Kevin Costner's eldest child and was born in 1984. Her parents were married between 1978 to 1994 and had two other children together: Lily and Joe.
- What does she do for a living? Like her famous father, Annie Costner has pursued a career in entertainment and has multiple credits as an actor, director and producer on IMDb. You might remember her as a star of the 1995 film “The Baby-Sitters Club,” where she played a character with her same first name. She also appeared in two of her dad’s films, “The Postman” and “Dances with Wolves." Annie co-founded a production company called Sound Off Films in 2014.
Lily Costner
- How old is she? 37
- Who are her parents? Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva
- Where does she fall in the age lineup? Lily Costner is Kevin Costner’s second child and was born in 1986, two years after her sister, Annie Costner. She is Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva's middle child and is two years older than her brother Joe.
- What does she do for a living? Lily Costner has a talent for singing and has musical credits in two of her father’s films: “Black or White” and “3000 Miles to Graceland.” Most recently, she collaborated with her dad for the song “Heaven’s Gate” from the 2020 album “Tales of Yellowstone,” per Country Living. In 2017, Kevin told the Huffington Post that his daughter is an “amazing singer and songwriter.”
- Fun fact: Lily and Annie Costner share a passion for acting, and they both appeared in “The Postman” and “The Baby-Sitters Club.”
Joe Costner
- How old is he? 36
- Who are his parents? Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva
- Where does he fall in the age lineup? Joe is Kevin Costner’s third child and was born in 1988, two years after his sister Lily Costner. He is Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva’s youngest child.
- What does he do for a living? In a 2017 interview with the Huffington Post, Kevin Costner revealed that his son is “really gifted in music.” According to Good Housekeeping, Joe Costner owns Spartan Recording, a mobile recording studio.
- Fun fact: Joe Costner appeared in "The Postman" alongside his sisters, Annie and Lily, in 1997. He can also be seen in another one of his father's films, "Tin Cup."
Liam Costner
- How old is he? 28
- Who are his parents? Kevin Costner and Bridget Rooney, who is the granddaughter of Pittsburgh Steelers founding owner Art Rooney.
- Where does he fall in the age lineup? Liam Costner is Kevin Costner's fourth child and is eight years younger than his older brother, Joe. Liam Costner was born in 1996, two years after Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva got divorced, and is the only child the "Yellowstone" actor shares with Rooney.
Cayden Wyatt Costner
- How old is he? 17
- Who are his parents? Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner
- Where does he fall in the age lineup? Cayden was born on May 6, 2007, almost three years after his parents married in 2004. He is the first of three children that the couple share.
- What has his father said about him? In 2017, Kevin Costner spoke to the Huffington Post about his children and described Cayden as a “good older brother.” Ahead of Cayden’s birth, Kevin Costner spoke about being an older father. “I don’t kid myself about certain realities: I won’t be around to see as much of this one’s life as I’ll get to see of my older kids’ lives. So with him, I really want to be there for every single moment that I can,” he told Good Housekeeping in 2007.
Hayes Logan Costner
- How old is he? 15
- Who are his parents? Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner
- Where does he fall in the age lineup? Hayes was born on Feb. 12, 2009 and is the second of three children that Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner share. Hayes falls between his siblings Cayden and Grace in the age lineup.
- What has his father said about him? In a 2016 interview with TODAY, Kevin Costner said his son Hayes is very athletic. “We’re at all the little league games, we’re in that car constantly. We’re trying to get the kids on the same team so we wont have to go to three practices,” he said. “So poor little Hayes, who’s in the middle, is having to play with 8- and 9-year-olds, and he’s 6 and he can hack it.”
Grace Avery Costner
- How old is she? 14
- Who are her parents? Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner
- Where does she fall in the age lineup? Grace was born on June 2, 2010, and is the youngest of Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner’s three children. She is also Kevin Costner’s youngest child overall.
- What has her father said about her? In a 2016 appearance on TODAY, Kevin Costner described Grace as his “girly girl.” He said, “She’s sewing and dancing but when she sees the ball bouncing out in the backyard, I can feel her gravitate out with the boys.”
- Fun fact: Kevin Costner rocked out with Grace at a Taylor Swift concert in Los Angeles in August 2023, and they clearly had a blast. “My videos are blurry, but I had an amazing time with my daughter at the @taylorswift show. I was absolutely blown away watching her art bring so many people together,” he wrote on Instagram, sharing video clips of the show. “I had a great view of her band and had a blast watching them, too. An inspiring night. I’m officially a Swiftie!”
CORRECTION (May 20, 2024, 9:51 a.m. ET): An earlier version of this story misstated Kevin Costner’s son’s first and middle name as Logan Hayes. It has been corrected to Hayes Logan.
