BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Actress Kate Bosworth has no trouble making up her mind. And once it’s made, she’s not likely to change it.

It happened when the word went out that Robert Redford was looking for an actress with an affinity for horses. “I was a passionate show jumper,” she explained.

“I showed every weekend. I loved riding … When there’s an open call for a specific talent — whether it’s dancing, riding, surfing — every person in that field goes out for it. It’s a small world. So I think every kid in the barn went out and auditioned for ‘The Horse Whisperer.’ I ended up getting the part.”

When they were casting the surfer film, “Blue Crush,” Bosworth suffered a deep disadvantage: She couldn’t surf. “It was one of those characters I just had to do,” said Bosworth.

“So for about a month they auditioned real female surfers. And for that month I went out and surfed and got my own coach. I went every day about 5 in the morning, six, seven hours of surfing every day. I came back about a month later and said, ‘Have you found your Anne Marie?’ And they said, ‘No.’ I said. ‘I’d really love it if you could come watch me surf.’ They thought I was crazy I’m sure, but I had such tenacity for that role it was impossible for them to say no.”

When the role of the cultured and cunning auction house doyenne arose, Bosworth didn’t have second thoughts. “The Art of More,” now streaming on Crackle, eavesdrops on the high stakes world of fine art auctions — and the devious ways they sometimes acquire the treasures.

As the daughter and heir apparent of the chief of one of these institutions, Bosworth gets to apply both her intelligence and her determination to the cause.

Known for films like “Still Alice,” “Beyond the Sea” and “Superman Returns,” Bosworth had never starred in a streamed series before. But she was eager. “I said I’m very interested in that space. I’m interested in developing and understanding a character more than an hour and a half — expanding that to potentially years.”

She was just 18 when she made her first seminal decision, one that would alter her future.

“I was accepted at Princeton and my parents were very excited I got into that school. I was very academic, yet I loved acting. So the first major decision was: should I go to Princeton or should I pursue acting? Obviously my parents wanted me to go to school, understandably. I didn’t want to disappoint them, I’m an only child. It was very difficult to feel like I was doing that.

“So I decided to pursue my dream. I think if I hadn’t done that, I’m not sure after four years of school, I’m not sure where I’d be. I might’ve done something else. There was a possibility of that. So that was the first major decision that I made that was the most important. It set the course for my life.”

Another resolution came when she met her husband, director-producer Michael Polish, on a movie set. “We didn’t date on the movie, but it was a unique chemistry. I suppose if that’s the person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with there’s something there that’s special. We didn’t want to have a set-fling or something like that. This was the real deal and we wanted to honor that.”

The choice to marry Polish brought with it instant parenthood as she became stepmother to his 17-year-old daughter, Jasper. “I would never have imagined if someone had told me at 25 that at 28 ‘you’re going to meet the man you’re going to marry. And by the way, you’re going to be a stepmom.’ I would’ve said, ‘No way, not in a million years. I don’t see that in the cards.’ However I think when the right situation presents itself,” she nods.

“I said to Michael when we got together, ‘The most important thing for you to know is that Jasper is No. 1, always. You don’t have to think about it or worry because that’s where I stand. So please know that very firmly.’ That’s how we’ve always approached parenting in a sense. I adore her mom. They live in L.A. so I think our intention is to raise a healthy, confident person in the world.”