Chris Hemsworth Failed to Convince Kevin Costner to Cast Him in a New Movie; Costner Cast Himself Instead: If I’m ‘Still Young Enough to Play It, I’ll Play It’

Chris Hemsworth recently revealed to Entertainment Tonight that he tried hard to land a role in a Kevin Costner-directed project only to learn that Costner had cast himself as the character instead. The “Thor” star did not reveal what the movie was, although he described it as something “abstract and interesting …a small story about a man and a woman.”

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“There was a movie, a script that I’d read and loved and was like, ‘I want to get that,’ and then someone said, ‘Kevin Costner has that [role],’” Hemsworth said. “I’d love [to have] him as a director. I was like, ‘Goddamnit!’ [I spent] an hour the other day trying to convince him, and he was like, ‘I’m doing it, kid.’ Didn’t work. I didn’t get the part.”

Hemsworth added that “there are horses involved” in the project as the character is a “horse wrangler,” which is part of what drew him to want to star in the movie.

“My wife read [the script] and loves horses,” Hemsworth added. “We have 10 or 11 horses back home, and so she’s like, ‘You’ve got to do this.’”

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Costner himself also spoke to Entertainment Tonight about turning Hemsworth down, saying: “It’s a love story, but as long as I’m still young enough to play it, I’ll play it. Chris will have to wait his turn. [Hemsworth] ’s so handsome, and he’s so good. He’s going to have to go find his [own] love story. [But] I’m glad he likes this one. If I reach a moment where I [don’t] think I could do that, I would [reach out]. He’s certainly one of our great leading men right now.”

Given that the mystery project is “abstract” and a “small story,” it might not be one of the four installments Costner has planned for his upcoming Western epic “Horizon.” The filmmaker has shot two films in the series, with the first set to world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month. Warner Bros. is opening the first installment in theaters on June 28, followed by the second film on Aug. 16. Should these two movies prove successful at the box office, then Costner’s plan would be to continue the Western franchise with two more films.

Costner’s “Horizon” stars himself opposite an ensemble cast that includes Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tantanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt and Jamie Campbell Bower.

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