Kevin Costner almost starred in Tarantino’s masterpiece – but then he turned it down for a surprising reason

With Django Unchained, cult director Quentin Tarantino has made the most successful film of his career to date. With a budget of 100 million, the laid-back revenge epic grossed over 425 million dollars worldwide.

Yellowstone star Kevin Costner almost became part of this success story. Tarantino wrote a role especially for the actor. But he turned down another part in a series.

Kevin Costner turned down Django Unchained role because of series

Collider has once again revealed the longer story behind the Tarantino-Costner connection of Django Unchained. Before shooting the film, the director, as a Costner fan, had written a part for the star into the script. He was to play a character named Ace Woody, who is Mandingo trainer and right-hand man of the villain Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) would have appeared.

The role would have subverted audience expectations and shown Costner not as his usual good guy, but as an extremely sadistic villain. The actor turned it down because he preferred to take on the lead role in Hatfields & McCoys. This seems like a surprising decision, because a Tarantino blockbuster was the more promising opportunity over 10 years ago.

However, the Western series became a surprise success in 2012, receiving several Emmy nominations and Costner even won an award for best actor in a mini-series. The story about two heads of families (Costner and Bill Paxton), who have been enemies for many years, can today be seen as a prequel to Yellowstone.

Here you can watch a trailer for Hatfield & McCoys:

Where can you watch Hatfields & McCoys?

The western miniseries is currently not available for subscription anywhere. If you still want to watch Hatfields & McCoys, you can watch the episodes Rent or buy on Amazon Prime or Apple TV. If you want to watch Django Unchained, all you need is a Netflix subscription. The Tarantino film is currently streaming here.

Also listen to our Western podcast: 8 films of the genre that are worth watching, and not just for Yellowstone fans

Whether thanks to series hits like Yellowstone and 1883 or Tarantino masterpieces like Django Unchained: the Western genre is experiencing a popularity like never before. For all fans, we have selected the best Westerns that you can stream right now.

The 8 Western highlights presented on Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and MUBI include both absolute classics and lesser-known insider tips. There is something for every genre fan: Our recommendations cover a full 55 years of Western history between 1964 and 2019.