Kevin Costner has been one of the biggest names in the movie business for decades.
He’s also a standard celebrity Democrat.
And Kevin Costner made one announcement with Fox News that took Hollywood by surprise.
Kevin Costner partners with Fox for a new series on the creation of national parks
Academy Award-winner Kevin Costner is releasing a new three-episode limited series about the creation of national parks with Fox Nation, the streaming service of Fox News.
Yellowstone to Yosemite follows President Theodore Roosevelt and naturalist John Muir as they traveled through what would become Yosemite National Park in California in 1903.
Roosevelt was inspired by the trip and Muir’s urgency to protect the country’s natural treasures.
The trip set Roosevelt on the path to creating the National Park System.
Costner said the limited series shows the impact that people can have on the world during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s The Will Cain Show.
“While we all enjoy [the Yellowstone national parks], very rarely do we actually understand how they came to be,” Costner explained. “And when you think about things in life, it’s like, are we ever going to make a difference in our life? I mean, I ask myself that. Everybody does. I mean, there’s a billion of us on this planet now. What do we do? But it’s a story about how men and women can really make a difference through a force of will.”
Viewers see the majesty of Yosemite National Park
Costner said that he wanted to highlight Yosemite’s “natural beauty” as well as tell the story of Roosevelt and Muir’s journey.
The Dance with Wolves actor also includes Native American history in the series, a frequent theme in his Western movies.
But Costner didn’t want it to be a typical lecture from Hollywood.
“The important thing for me was we deal with the story before John Muir shows up, which is the Native Americans have this whole country, and they have Yosemite,” Costner stated. “And that’s not very often talked about, but we deal with it in the documentary. Not to pound people in the head, but just to educate.”
Host Will Cain asked Costner what things attracted him to scripts in his movie career.
“The notion of heroism when no one’s looking,” Costner replied. “I think when you’re a child or young man or young woman and you see that, you realize, you know, the heroism of a woman who works three jobs, you see her four in the morning, every morning at a bus stop. And by the end of the evening, when she gets home so tired and makes a meal for her kids, she’s gone to three different places to work in movies. We can sometimes depict that and we lay music to it, and suddenly we know who’s important. Suddenly we know who is powerful, who is a hero, a hero in her own family, that she would work that way to make life better for her children.”
The rise of streaming has changed the entertainment business.
Costner and Fox News teaming up on a series would have been seen as out of place a decade ago.
Fox Nation is working with actor Kelsey Grammer, author James Patterson, comedian Dennis Miller, and others in addition to Fox News stars on content.
Streaming is leading to unexpected partnerships in the world of entertainment.
