Luke Wilson’s transformation into his “Horizon: An American Saga” cowboy character brought with it “respect” for his horse, Charm.
Wilson, who starred as Matthew Van Weyden in Kevin Costner’s passion project, opened up about what filming was like during an interview with Fox News Digital. The first of four films hit theaters Friday.
“I love Charm, and if Charm’s watching out there in Southeastern Utah, I miss you. I’ll see you in August,” Wilson joked.
The 52-year-old actor shared what it was like to work with “incredible” horse wranglers such as Scott Perez. “You go to work with these cowboys, and they try and kind of fit you with the horse you’re going to get along with and be able to manage and, yeah, they’re incredible,” he said.
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Wilson has “always loved animals.” For his role in “Horizon,” the “Old School” star was paired with Charm.
“I’ve ridden a little growing up, but certainly never spent this much time on horseback,” Wilson explained.
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Throughout filming, Wilson came to have a lot of “respect” for the horse.
“But Charm, you know, Charm could hit his mark from 200 yards. And I have trouble walking into this room and hitting a mark. So, I have a lot of respect and, yes, love for Charm,” he said.
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Wilson was one of the first people to hear from Costner about starring in the passion project that the “Field of Dreams” star spent decades working on, Deadline reported.
“For me, it was one of the most important conversations in my life,” he told Fox News Digital about receiving the phone call. Wilson referred to Costner as “somebody I respect so much, somebody I loved as a kid, somebody I’d admired as an adult.”
“To be lucky enough to get the chance to work in this business and then to get the chance to go to work — not just for him, but alongside him — was very special,” he said.
“Horizon” star Sienna Miller revealed she was shocked by the phone call she received about starring in Costner’s Western.
“Well, I got a call. Be still my ’90s heart,” Miller, 42, said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “It said Kevin Costner would like to speak to you about a project that he’s doing. I then got four scripts, so I was like, it must be TV. It wasn’t. It’s for movies. And then there’s Kevin Costner on the Zoom, and I was beside myself. Anyway, we had a wonderful conversation. We got along very well. And at the end of it, he said, ‘Sienna, I have one question for you.’ And I said, ‘Yes, Kevin.’ And he went, ‘Will you go West with me?’ I died, I died.”
“I was like, ‘Yes, yes, I will go. I will go to the moon and back a million times,’” she recalled.
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“Horizon” also stars Costner, who wrote and directed the four films.
The 69-year-old actor backed the saga with his own money after deeming it a passion project nearly 30 years ago.
“I know they say I’ve got $20 million of my own money in this movie,” he previously told GQ magazine. “It’s not true. I’ve got now about $38 million in the film. That’s the truth. That’s the real number.”
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While all four installments of “Horizon” will showcase the West before and after the American Civil War, Costner’s storytelling reveals a bigger picture regarding the modern state of the country.
“I think that Kevin is telling a story that shows that there was a lot of hope in how America was formed,” “Horizon” star Sam Worthington explained to Fox News Digital. “And therefore, if [there’s] this hope in the formation of America, then maybe there’s hope in the continuation of America — whether it’s a Western or science fiction.”
“Good movies explain to us how we are now,” he added. “And so, if that’s his message, I think that’s a great message for the America that we’re in.”
Through his deal with FOX Nation, Costner is set to release a new project in 2025 for the platform and previously hosted “Yellowstone: One Fifty,” a series that explores the origins of the national park.
