Kevin Costner marks Fourth of July by celebrating 'hope'

Kevin Costner marked America's Independence Day on Tuesday by celebrating "hope".

In a Tuesday Instagram post, the Yellowstone star honoured the United States holiday and its history.

"Happy Fourth, friends," Costner captioned a snap from his film Dances With Wolves. "I've spent my career diving into the history of America - both the ugly and the beautiful parts of it."

He continued, "Today, I celebrate the HOPE that drove our ancestors. May it continue to push us towards a more perfect Union, together."

In the 1990 film, which he also directed, the actor starred as Union Army Lieutenant John Dunbar, who was making his way to a military post in the American frontier when he came across a group of Lakota people.

Dances With Wolves was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won seven, including two for Costner with Best Picture and Best Director. America's Library of Congress chose to preserve the film in the National Film Registry in recognition of its cultural and historical significance in 2007.

It was recently announced that Costner's TV show, Yellowstone, will come to an end after the rest of the current fifth season. This will allow him to focus on making his Western film franchise Horizon.

The 68-year-old is also in the middle of a difficult divorce from his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner.