Kevin Costner ensures that "strong women characters" feature in his films.

Kevin Costner includes 'strong females' in his films

Kevin Costner includes 'strong females' in his films

The 69-year-old star is directing the epic Western 'Horizon: An American Saga' and thinks that focusing on female characters means his work appeals to all even though it is geared towards male viewers.

Kevin told the Happy Sad Confused podcast: "I make movies for men. That's what I do.

"But I won't make a movie unless I have strong women characters. That's how I've conducted my career.

"I think that's why I have a good following. I thank you women for dragging your men here. It was a Western after all. I just can't conceive of a movie without having (strong women)."

The 'Horizon' series features female cast members including Sienna Miller and Jena Malone and Kevin felt that the feminist perspective was imperative to the four-part saga.

The 'Dances with Wolves' actor told 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' earlier this month: "This has a tremendous amount of women in it. They play such a big part of the West and what happened.

"They were often taken out there against their will and with their children on the idea that there was something great out there. There was nothing out there except a group of people who lived there for thousands of years.

"Women were dragged into the most terrible of circumstances and made it work. And somehow they don't find themselves in Westerns and in 'Horizon' they dominate."

The opening movie in the saga marks Costner's first directorial outing for over 20 years but he knew he had to get behind the camera on a film that is such a passion project for him.

Kevin told The Hollywood Reporter: "Sometimes you wonder if you can still ride the bike, but what I knew was I believed so much in my story that I really was the one that needed to direct this.

"I didn't want to come away not bringing everything home that I thought the movie had a chance to deliver."

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