Kevin Costner didn’t cast Chris Hemsworth in his new movie for a great reason

Chris Hemsworth lost out on the lead role in the new Kevin Costner movie, but the Hollywood legend had a good reason for not giving it to him.

It turns out that being the God of Thunder isn’t enough to impress the God of Westerns. In the lead-up to his turn in the Mad Max prequel movie, Furiosa, Chris Hemsworth has revealed that he rallied for a new Kevin Costner project, only to lose out to Costner himself.

“There was a movie, a script that I’d read and loved and was like, ‘I want to get that.’ And then someone said, ‘Kevin Costner has that [role],'” Hemsworth said [via Entertainment Tonight]. “I’d love [to have] him as a director. I was like, ‘Goddamnit!’ [I spent] an hour the other day trying to convince him, and he was like, ‘I’m doing it, kid.’ Didn’t work. I didn’t get the part.”

As for what the project actually was, Hemsworth didn’t give too much detail, aside from mentioning that it was “abstract and interesting” and “a small story about a man and a woman.” He also said “There are horses involved” and that his character would have been a “horse wrangler.”

Horses? Say no more — that’s a Costner movie. As for the director himself — who is set to release the first two films in his Horizon: An American Saga series this summer — he had a good reason for turning down Hemsworth. Essentially, it was his role to give away.

“It’s a love story, but as long as I’m still young enough to play it, I’ll play it,” Costner said. “Chris will have to wait his turn. [Hemsworth]’s so handsome, and he’s so good. He’s going to have to go find his [own] love story. I’m glad he likes this one. If I reach a moment where I [don’t] think I could do that, I would [reach out]. He’s certainly one of our great leading men right now.”

It’s unlikely that this unnamed project is referring to Horizon. Costner’s been working on that for over thirty years, with the lead role almost certainly crafted for him from the start.

Horizon: An American Saga will premiere in Cannes and then be released in theaters on June 28. Chapter 2 will then follow on August 16. For more Costner, take a look at our guide to Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2. You can also find out why Kevin Costner was right to leave Yellowstone for Horizon.