'Black or White' role was part of a lifetime: Kevin Costner

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Oscar winner Kevin Costner said he's had several great roles in his career, but his role in "Black or White" was a part of a lifetime.

In the film, Costner plays a grieving widower left to raise his granddaughter alone. However, the family of the child's troubled father thinks it's time she gets to know the other side of her family.

"I think the movie, you know, at its core is about the welfare of this child, and ultimately, as that's being discussed and fought over, issues of race pop up. And that's where we get into trouble," Costner described.

Fellow Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, who also stars in the film, agreed that it all came down to what's best for the child.

"Is love from both sides best for the child or is it to be seen in just one world?" She said.

Writer-director Mike Binder took a page out of a story in his own family's life, scrambled it into fiction and served the script to Costner, who was blown away.

"I couldn't believe it. He called me up. He said, 'I tell you, I love this movie and I'm going to finance it,' and I said, 'Maybe you just want to buy me a house,'" Binder said.

Binder said Costner thought the film was important, and said he wanted to get the movie made no matter what.

"He gave me a part of a lifetime, and I've had a few, and I think I like to know the difference when I have one, and 'Black or White,' if it was my last film, I would be okay with that," Costner said.

"Black or White" opens Jan. 30.