Kevin Costner on Fatherhood and Raising HIs 7 Children

Kevin Costner is an actor, Oscar-winning director and musician, but when he’s at home with his family, he’s just Dad.

The Yellowstone star, 67, and his wife of 18 years, Christine, 48, have three children together, sons Cayden, 15, and Hayes, 13, plus daughter Grace, 12. Costner also has four older children from previous relationships, daughters Annie and Lily, and sons Joe and Liam.

Costner, who explores the history and wildlife of Yellowstone National Park in honor of its 150th anniversary in his new Fox Nation docuseries Yellowstone One-Fifty, streaming now on Fox Nation, says that fatherhood is one of his greatest joys.

“You’ve got to get down on the ground and play with them,” he says in the latest issue of PEOPLE. “And you teach them to be independent — and the sad part about that is they become that. I’m like any other parent: I’m trying to figure it out.”

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Costner adds that his teenage son Hayes has a small part in his upcoming four-part western epic Horizon.

“He’s very good,” says Costner. “But I kind of did it on purpose, so he could be hanging out with me. And the same thing for Cayden, same thing for Grace. ‘This is really neat. You should come be with me.'”

When Costner isn’t working, he says his days off are all about family.

“I work as a provider. I’m a father and I’m a husband, but the world doesn’t revolve around me,” he says. “When I’m not making a movie, I’m living and on the freeway with my wife, getting the kids to their stuff or I’m waiting for them to come out of a party. I’m just twiddling my thumbs. People have a wrong idea about how my life works.”

For more on Costner, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.