Screen legend Kevin Costner returns in Let Him Go, which will be out in theaters on November 6. In the thriller, he plays a bereaved man named George who is swept into a dangerous family rivalry when his wife sets out to rescue their widowed daughter-in-law and grandchild.
Costner spoke to Screen Rant about the connection he felt to director Thomas Bezucha’s screenplay, as well as how he and costar Diane Lane approached their onscreen relationship.
There's some universal themes about family and the lengths people go to protect your family. This is an intense thriller, but it also speaks to larger themes. What do you think people relate to with the story or the characters?
Kevin Costner: Yeah, I related to it. I have this one moment, which is when I read the script and I'm all by myself. And I have to decide, is this a movie or not? Is it a movie I should be in or not? Is it a movie that can entertain? And I think it is a thriller; it's a drama, that sometimes you don't even like where it's going. But I felt like it was done in such an authentic way. Because sometimes we have women that will take us to places. Women are forceful, and they have this thing inside them that, if they think they're right about something, they're going to go forward.
My guy knows that this is a bad way to go, and I think you see it so early. I think most men have been in that position sometimes, which is: "This is a bad move." And there was something [in] that line that kept up its line the whole movie; you didn't have to get to the end to know something bad was going to happen. You could feel it coming, and I thought that was very cool.
George isn't gung ho about visiting the Weboys, but he wants to Margaret's ion. He then goes through several life-altering scenarios that activate him. Can you talk to me a little bit about George's journey?
Kevin Costner: Yeah. Listen, for as much as we think we lead, our women lead our households in so many ways. My dad was the leader of our house, but my mom actually ran the show. I think George is a quiet guy; I think a lot of guys will relate to George. They go, "Oh, man. This is bad. He's right; she's wrong." She, morally and ethically, is right. But it doesn't matter.
What was cool about the movie for me is it kept its promise, meaning that's where it was going. For as much as we hate, maybe, where it went - we understood it completely. He had didn't have a choice, did he? Not really.
Speaking of authenticity and strong women, you and Diane Lane's relationship feels so natural. Did your past acting together in other projects, like Man of Steel, help form the onscreen relationship in Let Him Go?
Kevin Costner: This, and it was a really beautiful script. I keep going back to that moment when I read it by myself, nobody around me. And I thought, "This is real. This is not something I have to try to fix." This requires a world class actress; we had it Diane Lane.
The relationship was written. What we had to do was find those touchstones of reality that you believe when you watch this in the car, when you watch this on TV, when you watch this in the kitchen. It's like, what are those moments where you go, "I get where this dude's coming from." I have been there.
I have to find a way to do that, but I had these words. So, I didn't just make this up. I wasn't brilliant that way. What I think I was is smart enough to play who George was, was a quiet man who had a violent past, who sees something that is going to a bad place. His wife is just, God bless her, headstrong - and we run into really some awful people.
