Luke Grimes Weighs In on Costner's Yellowstone Exit Reasons: "Whatever Happened There is Unfortunate"

Summary

• It remains unknown whether Kevin Costner will return to Yellowstone ( probably not).
• Yellowstone co-star Luke Grimes has weighed in on the controversy.
• Grimes was sympathetic, but worried about the series' ending.

It's been a full year since Paramount announced that Kevin Costner was leaving Yellowstone. With the second half of Season 5 being the final one, the news was incredibly disappointing for fans of one of the most important Westerns of the 21st century.

Moreover, the mere fact of Costner's departure has caused an incredible amount of controversy and speculation around the already cult series: is Taylor Sheridan or Costner himself to blame, how does the former intend to deal with John Dutton without his actor, how much will all this affect the quality of the finale?

All in all, even now, in 2024, it's causing quite a few controversies, as the ongoing drama behind the scenes is still shrouded in mystery. Reports at the end of March suggested that Costner would return to Yellowstone after all, but that was followed by other reports saying that we could still see new scenes with John Dutton before the end of the series.

Anyway, we'll just have to wait for the second part of Season 5 to be released, as well as listen to the opinions of the other members of the Yellowstone ensemble cast. For example, Kayce Dutton's Luke Grimes expressed concern about how the departure of the actor could affect the upcoming storylines.

Luke Grimes Maybe Be the Most Passionate about Yellowstone

Yellowstone is far more than just Kevin Costner, as the show managed to make viewers fall in love with the vivid ensemble cast almost as soon as the show debuted on the Paramount Network. The actors who starred in Yellowstone are incredibly talented, and while many of them were already famous before the show's release, it was a game changer for many.

And yet, no one seems to be as invested in the project as Luke Grimes, who plays the role of John Dutton's youngest son, Kayce. His character seems to be the only one who really wants to prevent a family feud but is full of conflicting feelings towards both his relatives and his wife, who is a resident of the Broken Rock Indian Reservation, which wants to reclaim the land that now belongs to the Duttons.

The actor said in an interview with The Independent that it was the role he was particularly passionate about.

'If I could have figured out my dream role at the age that I got that job, it would have been Kayce,' he shared. Grimes is so committed to bringing a realistic portrayal of the character to the small screen that he has never seen the show, fearing he would not like it.

Grimes on Costner's Departure from Yellowstone

With that in mind, it was curious to hear what the actor, for whom Yellowstone is so meaningful, had to say about the drama between Sheridan and Costner. Grimes doesn't seem to know the reason for Costner's departure either, but he's incredibly concerned about how it might affect the upcoming episodes of 5B.

'Whatever happened there is unfortunate if it’s changed anything about how the show was going to unfold,' he said. Grimes, however, was sympathetic to the decision, recognizing that Costner was driven by very different aspirations. After all, he was producing a series of Western movies called Horizon: An American Saga.

'I know, [Costner] got busy with his movies that were like passion projects. At a certain point, you gotta do what you gotta do, man; you gotta do what you love.'

It remains to be seen if we'll see John Dutton in the final episodes, or if Sheridan truly sealed his fate at the 'Train Station'. Season 5B is scheduled to premiere on November 10, 2024.

Source: The Independent.