Hatfields & McCoys

Where Kevin Costner is concerned it doesn’t take much to get me excited. I am completely and utterly biased about the man. He has Demigod status in this household. So, that said…if you don’t appreciate the genius that is Kevin…leave now and forever hold your piece.

Just recently Kevin won an Emmy Award for Best Actor in the mini-series Hatfields & McCoys. I recently had the pleasure of watching the series and was thrilled to see his work recognized.

The Hatfields & McCoys is the biggest feud involving two families in America which took place during the 1800s.

The mini series is the second most watched program in cable television history. In case you’re wondering…High School Musical 2 is number one.

While the feud took place along The Big Sandy River that divides Kentucky and West Virginia, and the Appalachian Mountains, the actual filming took place in Transylvania, Romania, just outside of Brasov with the Carpathians representing the Appalachians.

The cast and characters are as follows:

• Kevin Costner as William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield
• Bill Paxton as Randolph “Randall” McCoy
• Tom Berenger as Jim Vance
• Matt Barr as Johnson “Johnse” Hatfield
• Jena Malone as Nancy McCoy
• Damion O’Hare as Ellison Hatfield
• Sam Reid as Tolbert McCoy
• Powers Boothe as Judge Valentine “Wall” Hatfield
• Andrew Howard as “Bad” Frank Phillips
• Sarah Parish as Levicy Hatfield
• Lindsay Pulsipher as Roseanna McCoy
• Ronan Vibert as Perry Cline
• Joe Absolom as Selkirk McCoy
• Noel Fisher as Ellison “Cotton Top” Mounts
• Boyd Holbrook as William “Cap” Hatfield
• Tom McKay as Jim McCoy
• Mare Winningham as Sally McCoy
• Michael Jibson as Phamer McCoy
• Greg Patmore as Good Lias Hatfield
• Max Deacon as Calvin McCoy
• John Bell as Audie
• Nick Dunning as Preacher Dyke Garrett
• Katie Griffiths as Alifair McCoy
• Joy McBrinn as Aunt Betty Blankenship
There’s more but it is a big cast. So I am sharing the ones that made an impression on me in this series.

My favourite characters, other than Kevin of course, were Jena Malone [Lydia in Pride and Prejudice], and Noel Fisher. Both were riveting characters in the series. Nancy McCoy was a manipulative little bitch in the series and Jena did a wonderful job with the complexities of the character. She is certainly an actress with a lot of potential. And Noah as Cottontop was priceless to watch. Cottontop is the mentally disabled bastard son of Ellison Hatfield and Fisher’s portrayal was wonderful to watch.

There has been some criticism of the series for taking poetic license with some of the facts. People please, this is a drama. It is not a documentary. If you would like to know more on the discrepancies Christopher John Farley’s article ‘How realistic is Hatfield’s and McCoys?‘ is quite interesting to read. For my part I took this series for what is was. A dramatisation of a piece of American history.

The locations are great, the cast does a wonderful job with their roles, the writing is tight and moves this along at a great pace. There is plenty of action, a lot of drama, love, hate, romance, humour and it’s just a great piece of television to spend a few hours on. In my opinion it deserved every one of its Emmy nominations and those it won could not have gone to a better series.

Images sourced from Wikimedia Commons

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• Kevin Costner Wins A Emmy For Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie! (lukewilliamsgossip.wordpress.com)
• Tom Berenger Wins Best Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or Movie Emmy For ‘Hatfields & McCoys’ (huffingtonpost.com)
• Costner riding high with ‘Hatfields’ victory (variety.com)