MOVIE/ MINISERIES & REALITY ISSUE

ROSINING UP HIS BOWPLAYINGTHE&HARDCostner Breaks Loose in ‘Hatfields &McCoys’ as His Devil Deals the CardsWhen it comes to the longevity of the western,Kevin Costner remains the genre’s iconic voicein cinema today. However, this time he’s extendedhis lasso around television as the producer andstar of History’s first miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.Hitting record ratings for basic cable each of itsthree nights with a final 14.3 million for its finale,Hatfields’ success underscores not only the genre’spopularity, but also Costner’s enduring leadingmanstatus. With his chiseled looks and laconicBy Anthony D’Alessandrotone, he is often compared to Gary Cooper. Yetunlike Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone’s ManWith No Name trilogy, Costner isn’t out to rockand roll the oater. Costner westerns hone in onthe subtext and mores of standoffs against a bluesky, of which there are plenty in Hatfields, versusslow-mo blood and pungent dialogue that havepeppered the Coen brothers’ True Grit and HBO’sDeadwood. Not to mention that Costner doesn’tduck when it comes to playing the irascible. HisDevil Anse Hatfield is as wonderfully potent as hisbad guy turns in A Perfect World and Mr. Brooks. Alsomaking Hatfields a success is Costner’s best friend,director Kevin Reynolds. Despite the duo’sbitter feud during Waterworld, Costner is upfrontabout their reconciliation. Behind the camera onHatfields, the two were great pardners – Costnerassisted Reynolds with second-unit shoots aswell as contributed music with his country-rockband Modern West. Given the TV Academy’sadoration for oaters (i.e. the four Emmy wins forRobert Duvall’s Broken Trail including best actorand miniseries), expect Costner and Hatfields &McCoys to ride high in the saddle come nom time.AWARDSLINE: How did the project come your way? Were youtracking this?KEVIN COSTNER: No, it came to me in a fairly traditionalway. My agent had read it, knowing my sensibilities.While on the surface it didn’t seem like something Iwould do in terms of it being on TV – whatever everyone’sprejudice is – he understood I’m writer-drivenand material-driven. He liked it enough that he askedme to read it, and when I did, I knew immediatelythat I liked it enough to consider it. They asked me todirect it, but I was doing music over the summer and Icouldn’t give it its proper prep.AWARDSLINE: Did you have a particular choice in terms ofwhat part you wanted to play – Devil Anse Hatfield or RandallMcCoy? What drew you to Devil?COSTNER: I had my choice in terms of what I wantedto play. I thought about playing Jim Vance. Loved thatrole and I liked Bad Frank, but it made more sensefor me to play Devil Anse. I had to put my producer’shat on at that moment: “What was the right place forme to be?” Not, “How can I surprise people?” It wasreally more, “I should take Devil Anse.” That madethe most sense, and I got involved in this as any role Iever had … I don’t think we tried to paint (Hatfield orMcCoy) more right than the other. I think we tried toshow their personalities. Devil showed a willingness towork this out, but in terms of fierceness and hardness,he was unflinching.AWARDSLINE: From a dramatic perspective, is Devil close to any ofthe western characters you’ve previously played? Such as Wyatt Earp?COSTNER: I think so. They’re direct people and havesucceeded in their own hard times because of theirability to react quickly and to decimate in a momentwhat has to be done. Devil came out of war, so he hasseen a lot of death and hand-to-hand combat. Therewere people in the west that were very decisive, and theywere hard in how they were guided. People fell in behindthem. Both Wyatt Earp and Devil Anse weren’t theoldest in their families, yet everyone acquiesced to them.AWARDSLINE: Is it easier to make westerns right now, given therecent success of True Grit?COSTNER: The success of True Grit doesn’t guide me.I’ve always gone my own way and made them. I don’tknow if they’re in vogue. I make them because I wantto make them, not because the timing is right for them.They’re hard to make, and maybe hard to get people tomake them, but hard to make in terms of making themrelevant. The only way to make them relevant is if youactually depict real situations and find a way to do sowith dramatic and entertaining value. When they’rejust black and white hat, they don’t hold value to me …We don’t need to see slow-motion blood. It can’t justbe gritty for grit’s sake. Some people were very cleanand others lived a life in a saddle during that time …Audiences trust westerns when you hit the right tone.I think they’re not in vogue, but they will always be invogue when you hit the right note.AWARDSLINE: Why was Kevin Reynolds an easy-go after youpassed on directing?COSTNER: He was my idea. They had a list of people,and I felt Kevin would work for great locations, a greatstyle and bring a film sensibility to it. We didn’t havethe kind of money that was being thrown around likeother miniseries on HBO. We were a third of thosebudgets. But I know us as guys who don’t settle. I feltthat was a way for us to elevate an already great story.AWARDSLINE: What is it about Kevin Reynolds as a director thatbrings out the best of you as an actor?COSTNER: I just thought he would bring a great vision.He doesn’t necessarily bring out the best in me. There’sa lot of great directors, and I thought Kevin could begreat for this. It wasn’t going to be an easy show. I likepeople who are aware of that and that doesn’t causethem to wilt … Kevin shot some second unit for me onDances With Wolves with the buffalo scenes. I had sevencameras going. I did the same for him on Hatfields.AWARDSLINE: Then the whole Waterworld production debaclewas blown out of proportion?COSTNER: Waterworld was certainly blown out of proportion.You can tell I don’t look backwards. I’ve alwayssupported him. I have my own voice, and I think he’san absolute artist, and I’ve been the biggest fan of hiswork. You can see how I behaved … I was impressedearly and impressed late (by his capabilities as a filmmaker).I put him in a category of all these guys whoare thought to be great. He’s not on those moviesbecause I think people blew Waterworld out of proportion.He’s as good as any of these guys that are makingthese big movies. I know that in my heart.AWARDSLINE: You’ve been involved in westerns since very early onin your career. What do you love about the genre?COSTNER: I think it’s hard for people to suspend theera they live in and understand that the decisionsthat had to be made often during the western werelife and death. You had to be resourceful and on yourfeet to try to figure out somebody. You didn’t have thebenefit of knowing who somebody was. And when youuse a word like “stranger,” (it) doesn’t really scare usanymore. When someone would come into town backthen, you could be afraid of a stranger. You don’t knowwhat side they fought on in the Civil War. You don’tknow their story. People would victimize people in thewest in every town and then move on. There was noway of communicating that there was a bad person.We did it to the Indians across the entire continent.Sometimes in the dark, I wonder if I would measureup, would have reacted in the right way or if my civilitywould have gotten me killed. When Devil Anse killsthat young boy in the road, it speaks to his sensibility ofsurvival, not that that young boy was threatening him,but because his uncle killed the other one … If that wasmy friend or if that was my brother who was just killed,and these guys let me live, I’m going to come backthere and find these guys, and I’m going to fucking killCostner as Cowboy Through the Yearsthem. Devil understood that’s what was possible. Andso he didn’t like killing that boy. And the best he coulddo is let them think that he wasn’t going to kill him,but he did. It speaks to hardness. Some people rejectthat, and I’m drawn to it. I don’t reject him as a personbecause he did that. I reject the other guy completely:Jim Vance is a sociopath.AWARDSLINE: In Part 2 where Randall McCoy begs for yourmercy to release his sons, your character just won’t yield.COSTNER: No. I think it was written correctly. Randalldid the right thing: He came unarmed, and he puthimself at Devil’s mercy. The best my character couldoffer him: some wriggle room. “If my brother lives,then your boys go to court” – that was a concession ifyou think about it … These people (the Hatfields andMcCoys) often handled their own problems. They arbitratedtheir own situations. There’s a little concessionthere. But the idea that Devil said no – I respond to thathuman behavior, I get it. Randall asked two or threedifferent ways, and that’s the point Devil was tryingto make: “No.” He was a hard guy. But I think youunderstood him. Do you let somebody go that stabbedyour brother 27 times and shot him at a county fair?Do you let those three boys go free from your garage?… I mean if you think really about it, I don’t think youdo in that day and time. Today, the police would comein and intervene.AWARDSLINE: Was dropping out of Quentin Tarantino’swestern Django Unchained really a matter of the scheduling?[Editor’s note: Costner was slotted to play Ace Woody,a nefarious, sadistic trainer of male fighting slaves whoentertain the white patrons at a hellhole.]COSTNER: It was completely a matter of schedule. Whenwe were first talking about it (Quentin and I), it wasabout a two-week commitment. That’s the schedulethat they thought they were going to shoot. I’m guessingnow about this part – but as other actors came onthe project, their schedules were such that it startedto change. When I looked at my part, I was stretchedacross two or three months, and I could not do that. Ihad musical commitments (with Modern West).AWARDSLINE: You’re often branded as playing the good guy, but Ihave to think you have no qualms playing the villain. In fact you did inClint Eastwood’s A Perfect World. Do you care if you’re the villain?COSTNER: No. I also played a serial killer in 2007’s Mr.Brooks before Dexter (even aired). That’s as heinous asit gets. You’re right, I don’t have a problem playing apart like that. I don’t at all. But I have to find a level ofunderstanding in those characters. If I do that, thenI feel like I’m on solid ground. You don’t have to likeDevil Anse, but it’s important that I play him to thedegree that if you’re watching really carefully and youwant to try to put yourself in his time and era, you’llfind a level of understanding in his behavior.This is not his first rodeo. Awardsline takes a quick look atthe roles that put Kevin Costner back in the saddle (from left).FREE WHeelin’ gunslinger Jake in Silverado (1985)Sioux sympathizer Lt. John Dunbar in Dances With Wolves (1990)the complicated lawman Wyatt earp (1994)Post-apocalyptic patriot cum postal worker in The Postman (1997)Crusading cattlesman Charley Waite in Open Range (2003)26EMMY AWARDS PRINT EDITIONS 2012Kevin Costner as Devil Anse Hatfield