The West: Kevin Costner Reveals the Film That Sparked His Love for Westerns as a Kid

Kevin Costner shares the film that sparked his lifelong obsession with Westerns — and how it continues to influence his latest work on The West.

Kevin Costner’s career has been built on the foundation of gritty, sprawling Westerns like Dances With Wolves and Yellowstone. Credited for reviving the genre with Dances With Wolves, he has since gone on to direct his own epic, Horizon: An American Saga.

But long before that, the film that lit the spark and developed his love for the genre was: How the West Was Won. The 1962 epic, directed by Henry Hathaway and others, hooked him on the genre, eventually inspiring him to transform into Hollywood’s modern cowboy.

How the West Was Won captivated young Kevin Costner

A still from How the West Was Won | Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Kevin Costner has always been vocal about his love for the Western genre. His passion for the genre wasn’t something he developed when he entered the entertainment industry but began when he was just seven years old.

In his celebrated 2019 Western Heritage Awards speech, the actor recalled being mesmerized by the 1962 film’s opening, with Spencer Tracy’s narration painting a land ‘with no roads or borders‘ and a birch bark canoe gliding across a lake.

Deeply moved by the scene, he ended up watching the film while attending a birthday party. ‘It took my breath away … I wanted to be free to make up my own life, living by my own wits,’ he said. The legendary film series, one of Hollywood’s greatest epics, was a sprawling tale about families taming the West, featuring legends like Henry Fonda, James Stewart, and Debbie Reynolds.

Too small for his theater seat and too young to really grasp the film’s intensity, seven-year-old Costner refused to budge even during intermission, skipping candy and Coke to soak in every moment. He reiterated the same emotions and claims when recently narrating the History Channel’s documentary, The West, stating that his love for the era was born because of the legendary epic.

Kevin Costner takes his love for the West to a whole new level

Kevin Costner’s The West | Credit: History Channel

That childhood awe for How the West Was Won has fueled Kevin Costner’s remarkable Western career. From his breakout role as Jake in Silverado (1985) to Dances With Wolves, and to portraying the patriarch John Dutton in Yellowstone, Costner has remained faithful to the genre.

Even though his passion project, the four-part epic Horizon: An American Saga, has failed to hit the mark, Costner’s work reflects the freedom and struggle of the West he first saw on screen as a kid. Now, he is taking his love for the West to a whole new level with History Channel‘s eight-part docuseries, The West.

Executively produced by him, the series provides a fresh look at the epic history of the American West by delving into the desperate struggle for the land itself –and how it still shapes the America we know today.

The series, narrated by Costner, explores the complex history of the American West, highlighting the struggles for land and the impact these events have on modern America. It showcases the journeys of settlers, legends, and the fierce conflicts with Native nations, revealing both the promise and the price of westward expansion. Thus, proving that his love for the genre is as enduring as the frontier itself, Costner’s bond with the West endures.

How the West Was Won is now available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, while the new episodes of Kevin Costner’s The West will air on Mondays at 9 pm on the History Channel, with the rest streaming on the platform’s app or website (USA).