Nepo Baby Alert! Kevin Costner Defends Casting Son Over Another Actor!

Kevin Costner isn’t above getting his kids a Hollywood role… But he feels he’s got a good reason why.

The Wyatt Earp star is set to return to the 1800s later this summer with his new Western epic, Horizon: An American Saga, which he wrote, directed, stars in — and personally financed to the tune of $38 million. It’s part one of a three-part series, so it goes without saying Kev had a big world to build out. And he wanted his 15-year-old son Hayes to be a part of that world!

Kevin Coster & Son Hayes — (c) MEGA/WENN

During an interview with Today on Monday, the 69-year-old revealed he named his teen son after his own onscreen character in the film, so it was a perfect fit… Though he assures he isn’t typically one to shoehorn his kids into Hollywood:

“He’s a beautiful boy and he’s quiet. And I have not shoved my children into the business. I realize there’s so many young actors out there that would just kill to be in this movie, and I don’t want to take those parts away from them just because I can place my own children in. But in this sense since it was a smaller part, I selfishly wanted him with me for the week — two weeks he was with me.”

Well, it’s good that it sounds like he mostly maintains the mentality of keeping roles open for non-nepo baby actors… And his reason for putting the kid in the picture seems like a sweet one. But still, here we are with another nepo baby in a Hollywood flick. But at least not a starring role in this one? A single scene? Sounds almost like a cameo, something no one would fault him for.

The Yellowstone alum recalled of the experience working together and his son’s brief role:

“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. It’s a really complicated scene and at the end, there’s a nobility, there’s an absolute fatalness about it. And it’s what you want in a son. It’s what you don’t want a son to do — at the end of the day, you are proud he would make that choice.”

Inneresting! Watch Kevin’s full interview (below):