The first installment in Kevin Costner’s new movie series “Horizon: An American Saga” was released in theaters June 28.
The story focuses around westward expansion during the mid-1800s and features Native actors Owen Crow Shoe and Tatanka Means, as well as Osage actors Henry Amos and Samuel Gray.
Kevin Costner made an appearance on the CBS morning show in June to talk about film and invested millions of dollars into the series.
“I’m like a wagon headed west, too,” Costner said. “I’ve just run into everything you can imagine, and I have to hold onto the rope because I’ve got this packed with the audience that I’m going to give them something, so I’m going to let them. I want them to go west.”
Henry was in the movie, but is credited as Samuel Gray. The boys are a dynamic duo supporting one another in their journey through the movie industry.
The Gray twins are from the Pawhuska District, and their parents are Edward Gray and Angela Pratt.
The twins were in “Killers of the Flower Moon”along with their family. They have been represented by Sovereign Talent Group, a talent agency in Los Angeles for several years. The boys are often sent to auditions and asked to submit tapes, in hopes of getting movie roles.
“They have been with Sovereign Talent Group for a few years now,” Pratt said. “Their agent sends them auditions, and the casting agent contacts their agent and says they would like for the boys to submit a tape for a certain role, and that’s what the boys do.”
Samuel was picked for the role, and casted as an Apache boy in the movie, and was excited to have the role.
“I felt excited and good because it was fun there,” he said.
In November 2022, the Grays went to film in Moab, Utah, for the movie.
“They wanted to cast Samuel, with Henry as a stand-in,” Angela said. “They sent a driver to our home to take us to Tulsa, and flew us to Grand Junction, and had another car for us to drive to Moab. They put us in a really nice hotel, total star treatment for the boys the entire way through.”
When the Gray twins go to movie sets, they often do schoolwork. One of the days they did schoolwork with the teacher provided by the set. Another day, it snowed and the set had to close. Other days they spent filming.
“They had their trailer where they had never-ending snacks,” Angela said. “Anything that the kids wanted, all you had to do was walk over there and you could get anything you wanted, all day.”
The twins got to meet Kevin Costner, who is also known for his western roles including portraying John Dutton in “Yellowstone,” the director and the main character of the movie.
“When we met Kevin Costner, he was like ‘So nice to meet you boys, thank you for doing this,’” Pratt said. “Samuel was cast, but he immediately said ‘I want to use both of them,’ and I contacted their agent.”
Costner and the production team treated the boys well and made sure they had a good experience on set.
“Kevin Costner was super nice to them,” Angela said. “He really babied the boys and was good to them. The way he treated them, you could tell he is a very attentive father.”
Samuel and Henry were dressed alike and Costner was planning on doing the scene with both of them. Costner showed the boys how he wanted the scene done, and ultimately ended up using Henry for the role.
“They ended up giving Henry a contract because they used him, they didn’t use Samuel, who did the audition tape, was cast, and also Samuel appears in the credits,” Pratt said. “But its Henry, and both of them received contracts.”
The Pratt-Gray family saw the movie after it was released. Angela and the boys liked the movie, but there is a catch for movie-goers to keep in mind when viewing the series.
“I really liked it,” Angela said. “I’ve heard people say they get kind of lost in the characters, but you have to remember that it’s a four-part movie series. This is chapter one, chapter two comes out in August, they’re working on chapter three right now, and there will be a fourth. It kind of leaves you hanging on about four different groups of people, but if you understand and realize that there’s more to come, then it makes sense. I really liked it, and they really liked it too.”
Henry really enjoyed being on set and thought it was cool to see himself on the big screen.
“I got really excited when I saw myself on the screen,” he said.
Pratt also said there are some emotional scenes, and Henry was in one of them. He handled it really well.
“There were some pretty emotional scenes, and Henry appears in a pretty intense scene,” Angela said. “And he did a really great job.”
While Samuel was originally cast, he was O.K. with not filming in the movie. The dynamic duo are fully supportive of one another, and know they are in the industry together.
“I just turned to the boys and had a little talk with them about how we’re a team,” Angela said. “They agreed that we’re a team; they’re twins, they’re brothers, fully supportive of each other, absolutely love each other, and this is something that we’ve been going through together on their little journey. Sammy was really gracious, because he knew he was cast and he knew he wasn’t getting to film, but he just told Henry to do his best job.”
Because of their roles on “Killers of the Flower Moon,”the Gray twins knew what to expect when filming “Horizon: An American Saga.”
“It was cute, because they totally get it,” Angela said. “They knew what to do, and I was really proud of their behavior and professionalism. My husband and I, and our three youngest boys were cast in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ in a principal scene; We got to do that as a family. So they had already gone through being on set, and having their own trailer and having the amenities like they do for principal actors.”
The boys enjoyed their time on the movie set and if offered another role, would go back and film again.
“I would do it again,” Henry said.
After filming wrapped, the movie production flew the family to Washington, D.C., for the dedication of the National Native American Veterans Memorial.
In July of 2023, Samuel was chosen to travel to New York to do a photoshoot for Nike, and Henry went with him.
“I’m really proud of them,” Angela said. “I think that they’ll continue to have more opportunities. We’re waiting to hear back on a few things now. They always work really hard.”
In the future, the boys would like to do more film roles. Henry would like to be in a horror film and Samuel would like to do a comedy.
While the boys don’t get every role they audition for, it’s still experience for them to receive bigger roles down the road.
“They don’t always work out, but it’s really good practice for them,” Angela said. “They just keep getting better and understanding how it works and get excited about the next one.”
