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Kevin Costner is opening up about one of his biggest purchases after finding success as an actor.
The 70-year-old “Dances with Wolves” star spoke to Fox News Digital about his upcoming special, “Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas,” and the first big Christmas gift he bought for his dad once he found success as a movie star.
“I got a truck for my father and I didn’t let him know what it was,” he explained. “I gave him some clues. Go to here, go to there. We never really do that… So he was like, ‘Why am I getting these go over to here?’“
Costner explained that the whole family was then watching him as he continued to follow instructions, before it all came together when he read the last clue which read, “It’s in the garage and the trip will be over.”
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Costner surprised his dad with a Silverado truck for Christmas after finding success as an actor. (Vince Bucci/ Newsmakers)
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Costner said that when his dad opened the box with the last clue in it, he “started playing the music from Silverado,” since he had bought him a Silverado truck. He said that once his father put the pieces of the puzzle together, he was overcome with emotion.
WATCH: Kevin Costner’s first big Christmas gift to his dad brought him to tears
“He came from out of the Dust Bowl. He watched his parents lose everything in Oklahoma,” Costner said. “And he was trying to make sense of the music, of the keys that looked like keys to a car that was a Silverado. And then it dawned on him, and he fell out of his seat, and he wept… he wept that he could have a present like that. That his son would buy him a truck. So there’s the moment.”
The actor shared that as a kid, he couldn’t wait for Christmas and would “start counting three weeks out every night,” but now as an adult, he sees that same excitement in his own kids.
He says it’s important to understand that a lot of people struggle this time of year, and to think of them while celebrating, calling Christmas a giving and “inclusive moment.”
Costner is promoting his new special, “Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas.” (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Airbnb)
“Live with humility. If you want to look up humility, look it up. You know, live with kindness. I think we know what that means. I think those words are self-evident about how we can purport ourselves. It’s like, you know, if you’re fine, it’s the next person you know, it’s the next person you love. Are they fine at this time of year? Let’s bring them in.”
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While speaking with Fox News Digital, Costner also promoted his upcoming two-hour special, “Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas,” which follows the journey of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus Christ, in order to allow audiences to acknowledge and experience the true meaning of Christmas.
“Then it dawned on him, and he fell out of his seat, and he wept… he wept that he could have a present like that. That his son would buy him a truck. So there’s the moment.”
The special, produced by Warm Springs Productions and directed by David L. Cunningham, will showcase reenactments of key moments of the nativity story and dive deeper into the emotional significance of the events.
WATCH: Kevin Costner discusses ‘Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas’
Costner explained that through the special he “wanted to just try to get below the surface” when it comes to the story of the Nativity, moving past the ornaments and decorations people bring out during the holidays.
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“There’s this tradition that’s strong in us, but where did it come from?” he said. “I think the one area that we really wanted to deal with is that we were talking about a young girl and a young boy and pregnant teenagers. And that kind of informs so much.”
Costner said he was happy to take the opportunity to “narrate a faith” that has done so much for him. (Matthias Nareyek/Getty Images)
When it comes to why Costner has made the switch to faith-based content, the “Horizon: An American Saga” actor said nothing “prompted” him to make the switch, adding, “everything for me is evolving.”
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He said he’s “making whatever I really want to make” and took this as an opportunity to “narrate a faith that I feel like has supported me.” He added that this project “really wasn’t about me as much as it is just this story,” and he felt it was “important” to be a part of it.
“I was raised in a church in Compton. I helped build it…I remember the golden shovel that went in the ground to break ground and, as a community, we built the church. Our life was wrapped around the church early on,” he said. “We weren’t a terribly affluent family. So the church and those songs, the church and those stories, they were fantastic to me.”
Costner’s first role was in a Nativity play at 4 years old. (Photo by Dominique Charriau/WireImage)
Costner, in fact, got his first acting role at the age of 4, playing a shepherd in a Nativity play.
Looking back on the experience, Costner recalls his costume being too big for him and his turban falling off. He remembered being overwhelmed by it all and forgetting to say his line.
“There’s this tradition that’s strong in us, but where did it come from? I think the one area that we really wanted to deal with is that we were talking about a young girl and a young boy and pregnant teenagers. And that kind of informs so much.”
“I missed it because I couldn’t get the clothes, I couldn’t get the turban, it kept coming across my eyes, and finally, I thought, s—, I missed this. Missed it. And I thought, ‘Well, I could get it back,'” he said. “So I just threw it out there as loud as I could. I just threw it out as loud as I could. I know it stopped the play momentarily… and I look over at my parents and I could see my mom was mildly amused, my dad’s not so much.”
While faith has played a major role in his life, he understands that not everyone has had the same experiences as him, and acknowledges that there could be some criticism that comes with the new project.
Costner accepts there will be critics when it comes to his new project. (Steve Granitz)
He explained that “religion is a really easy thing to attack” and the best he could do is “invite everybody in the room, and then you tell the story you want to tell.”
WATCH: Kevin Costner shares what role the church played in his upbringing
“If you’re a believer, and you have this faith, you can be mauled by somebody that goes, ‘OK, well then explain this, explain that,’” he said. “Religion is a very tough thing. It’s highly personal. So I invited them in to come. It’s a friendly invitation to a really rough story. And then something that just spread over thousands of years. It’s a story that endures.”
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“There is a truth to it. And we wanted to get as close to the truth as we could being mortal ourselves,” he continued. “So whenever you take it on, yeah, you have to resist being an authority. But I was comfortable inviting everybody in the room. You can walk away from it, but it has endured.”
“Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas” is set to premiere on Tuesday, Dec. 9 on ABC, and will be available the following day on Disney + and Hulu.
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