From WENN.com

Kevin Costner has credited beards, pipes and letters with helping him perfect his Devil Anse Hatfield character for TV mini-series Hatfields & Mccoys, because the accessories helped him research the feuding post-American Civil War patriarch.

The drama was a big hit when it debuted in America at the end of last month (May12) and now Costner has revealed how he prepared for the real-life role.

Asked how he got ready to play a 19th century character, opposite Bill Paxton, Costner tells Cowboys & Indians magazine, ""I start working with black powder. I start working with how to load those guns. I start looking at costumes.

""I start looking at beards and I start looking at cadence; how people talked back then. I read letters written by people back then. In this case, I needed to find the right beard and the right hat and the right pipe. I had to make the decision between this little corncob pipe and this little almond one - and I took the almond one.""