Kevin Costner's Real Role In Prime Video's New 8-Part Western Series Detailed By The Gray House EPs

Kevin Costner has kept his Western genre tenure alive and well as his real role in The Gray House has been revealed.

Penned by Walker's Leslie Greif, The Alienist's John Sayles and Hatfields & McCoys' Darrell Fetty, the series is based on the true story of four very different Southern women, those being a Virginia socialite, her mother, a formerly enslaved Black woman and a high-end prostitute, who begin working covertly to create an underground spy network to spy on the Confederacy for the Union during the Civil War.

In honor of the show's Prime Video premiere, ScreenRant's Liam Crowley interviewed Leslie Grief and Lori McCreary to discuss The Gray House. When asked about the extent of Costner and Morgan Freeman's involvements in the series, with the two onboard as executive producers via their Territory Pictures and Revelations Entertainment banners, Greif began by sharing that "Kevin broke down that script" and "had story conferences" with the show's writing team.

Describing the Oscar winner as "a tough taskmaster," the writer went on to explain that Costner "went through that script line by line" with them, wanting to ensure that everything was just right. He pointed to McCreary, the CEO and co-founder of Revelations Entertainment, and Freeman as sharing said goal with Costner, as they were "very protective of the authenticity and verisimilitude of the characters and the time" in American history the show was exploring:

Leslie Greif: I had two guys who weren't just going to slap their name on the project. They didn't need the job. They didn't need the money. They wanted to tell a story of importance. They were both very involved. I mean, Morgan started with developing with Lori when we originally started with John Sayles.

After having finished his rewrite of the show's script, Greif, who first worked with Costner on the Hatfields & McCoys miniseries, brought the multihyphenate the script as he "needed his big gun to come in and help push it over." Reiterating that Costner "doesn't just put his name on something," Greif further explained that the Oscar winner "needs to feel that if he's doing it, there's a contribution, and he makes an effort." Concluding that he felt "blessed" to have both Costner and Freeman onboard "in the script stages," he also shared that "it didn't hurt having their imprimatur when you want to get the project made."

McCreary chimed in by praising Costner for bringing "this historical responsibility that he feels" when tackling Western projects based on true stories, with Freeman also having "this unique historical perspective that he was able to give" the Gray House creative team. Feeling that the latter "believes that stories can help shape a culture," the EP shared that the Prime Video series "really has the power to help us recalibrate how we see American history" by tackling a story "we haven't heard before."

Costner and Freeman's involvement on The Gray House comes as a landmark pairing for a few reasons, the first of which is it marked a reunion for the Oscar winners. The duo previously worked together on 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in which Costner played the titular outlaw, while the latter starred as his companion Azeem. Both Costner and Freeman recently shared that part of their reasoning for not having an on-screen role in the Prime Video Western was not feeling there was one right for them, while also being busy with other projects.

For Costner, The Gray House also marks his first narrative-driven TV show in the wake of his infamous Yellowstone exit. The Oscar winner departed the Taylor Sheridan-created series in order to focus on his four-part Horizon: An American Saga movie franchise, which has only released one installment thus far due to Chapter 1's box office underperformance and mixed reviews. In addition to fronting History Channel's docuseries The West and Disney's The First Christmas, Costner has also been working on getting funding to finish Chapter 3 and to film Chapter 4.

For Freeman, The Gray House also continues the star's expansion into the world of TV, particularly behind the camera. Apart from some TV specials and films, the only proper roles Freeman had in a narrative series prior were CBS' Madam Secretary, which also marked his executive producer debut on the small screen, and Taylor Sheridan's Lioness, which is currently in the process of shooting season 3.

To both Greif and McCreary's points, Costner and Freeman are very well-respected figures in the world of historical storytelling, particularly the Western genre. Whether it's Clint Eastwood's reflections on age and morality in the Old West in Unforgiven, a celebration of one of the world's most iconic leaders in Invictus, or a look at the dangers of maintaining law and order in the West in Wyatt Earp, having the pair's names on any such genre project does lend a sense of credibility to it.

With a similarly talented ensemble in front of the camera, including Emmy winners Mary-Louise Parker and Keith David, The Gray House has a lot going for it to become a smash hit on the level of the various Yellowstone shows. Plus, with Prime Video having rarely explored the Western genre, and their last scoring acclaim with Emily Blunt's The English, the eight-part series could be the start of more from the platform if it draws in enough viewers.

ScreenRant: When did you discover the true story behind The Gray House, and what gave you the confidence that you wanted to give it that miniseries spotlight?

Lori McCreary: Well, I got a call from Leslie probably 15 years ago now saying, "Hey, I've been asked to do a war story that has females at the center. Do you want to work with us on this?" And Morgan and I immediately said yes. So he started telling us about the Van Lews and this woman named Mary Jane. And we had already done some research about Mary Jane. She was a former slave who became a spy. I thought immediately, "Oh my gosh, if we could work with Leslie on this and really build this out into something bigger, it could be really great." I love a story that has females at the center, especially when they've never been told from that perspective. And so we knew John Sayles from years ago. And so Leslie was able to bring John on and do a first draft for us at the time for a project that we were thinking was going to be two, three hours. As you know now, it's eight hours. And that's how much story there was that none of us knew about.

Leslie Greif: I've always wanted to tell stories where people know about something, but they don't know anything about it. So everyone knows about the Civil War and they know about both sides, but they didn't really know the story that these four unsung women helped turn the tide and bring down the South. And that's what got me excited. I knew that having Morgan and Lori on board would give the project their imprimatur. And then when we're going to Kevin Costner, who loves selling stories of history, and he had just finished doing the one where they were the astronauts, Hidden Figures. The timing was right. And sometimes timing comes together and all of us joined with this united feeling of this is a story that should be told today. And that's how it came to be.

Lori McCreary: We sometimes call this Hidden Figures for the Civil War.

Keith David Is "The Malcolm X To Frederick Douglass' Dr. King" In The Series

ScreenRant: Were you familiar with this corner of history going in?

Keith David: No, I learned about these women. I knew about Amethyst's character, Mary Jane. I knew about Mary Jane, but I love how they have really embellished her story and gave us a glimpse into understanding how she became who she became. That was a revelation. I didn't know about the other ladies, their contribution to the winning of the war.

ScreenRant: Can you share who your character is and tell us a little bit about your character?

Keith David: I play Henry Highland Garnet, who was an abolitionist along with Frederick Douglass. He was a contemporary of Frederick Douglass. I'd like to think of him as the Malcolm X to Frederick Douglass' Dr. King. He was offering a different alternative to how to stand up to slavery and slave owners. And he dared to speak truth to power. And I have deep respect for him, just wonderfully deep respect.

ScreenRant: There's a lot of talent involved in this series, both on screen and behind the scenes. Two of your executive producers are Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman. Did you have the chance to get any face time with either of those two guys?

Keith David: Yes, we talked a little bit. I started my career with Morgan Freeman. And the first play I ever did out of school, Morgan Freeman was the lead. He played Coriolanus in Corioladus in Shakespeare in the Park. I understudied Orphideus, who was his antagonist. It was wonderful to recap and to say hello. We did have a brief mention about how we had met back in the '70s.

ScreenRant: Sometimes with executive producers, they're only associated by name, which is why I ask if you got any face time. What about Costner and Freeman's contributions helped bring The Gray House to the next level?

Keith David: Well, if it wasn't for their interest and support, it wouldn't have gotten done. You need heavy hitters like that to not just be interested, but to be hands-on, to want to do something about it. Not just talking about it, but doing something about it. Showing support instead of just lip service. That counts for a lot. They were not just lip servants. They were hands-on.

Liam Crowley: Was there ever a role that you took on where you just did it for a one-off, a one-off episode, that you wished you could have explored more?

Keith David: Well, there's been a couple of one-offs that have become something. President Curtis being one of them. In Hercules, I played Apollo. I wish he could have come back in some way.

The Gray House begins streaming on Prime Video on February 26.