Luke Grimes has taken an uncomfortable 180-degree turn following Kevin Costner’s departure from his hit show, Yellowstone.
The actor, 40, who plays Costner’s on-screen son Kayce Dutton, previously called the icon’s bitter exit from the show “unfortunate” but now says the show “works” without his character John Dutton.
The second part of Yellowstone’s fifth season will finally premiere on November 10, without the 69-year-old Costner.
Grimes said news week: ‘I just feel like it would be unfair of me to talk about any of that because, you know, (the show) ran for seven years and a lot of things happened that I know and a lot of things that happen. I don’t know that.
‘I don’t have an overview of that whole situation, you know? All I know is what happened, happened and the show rolled with the punches.
Luke Grimes has done an awkward 180-degree turn following Kevin Costner’s departure from his hit show, Yellowstone – pictured in New York in November 2022.
Grimes plays the role of Kayce Dutton in Yellowstone, the son of Kevin Costner’s character John Dutton III.
“We were able to finish the show and end it in a way that I think will really work for everyone, even in the midst of all that.”
Teasing about the long-awaited season five finale, he said: “I think it’s going to be very satisfying because, I mean, that’s what you want.” That’s what you want. And the end of a great show is something unpredictable and satisfying.”
In April, Grimes said of Costner’s departure amid a rumored feud with showrunner Taylor Sheridan: “What happened there is unfortunate if it’s changed anything about how the show was going to play out, according to the independent.
The Dayton, Ohio, native appeared in 47 episodes of the hit Western series created by Sheridan, 53, and airing on the Paramount Network.
Grimes, alluding to Costner’s two-part Western drama Horizon, said the Oscar winner “was busy with his movies that were like passion projects” and it’s understandable why he might choose to change gears.
‘At a certain point, you gotta do what you gotta do, man; You have to do what you love,’ he said.
Costner left the series in May 2023.
In February 2023, internal sources said Deadline that Costner’s approach in his film Horizon: An American Saga had been “a source of frustration for Sheridan” and had been “causing moral problems for the other stars of the show.”
Grimes said: “We were able to finish the show and end it in a way that I think will really work for everyone, even in the midst of all that” – pictured in 2022
Costner left the series in May 2023 amid a rumored dispute with show creator Taylor Sheridan (pictured in 2018).
Costner’s departure from the series was confirmed in May 2023, production sources said. Entertainment tonight that the Dances With Wolves star had stepped away from the series.
Costner’s departure came after a period that was doomed by “a lot of confusion and frustration” over the future of his status, sources told the outlet.
Paramount in May 2023 confirmed that the series would conclude with the second half of the fifth season.
It was originally scheduled to air in November 2023, but last year’s entertainment industry strikes pushed it back a year, with a current premiere date of November 10, 2024.
Sheridan said The Hollywood Reporter in June 2023 that he had been “disappointed” by Costner’s departure, feeling that it creatively affected the show for the worse.
The actors were seen in an episode of the Paramount Network drama alongside co-star Cole Hauser, who plays the role of Rip Wheeler.
“This truncates the closure of his character,” Sheridan said. “It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
Sheridan said his “opinion of Kevin as an actor has not changed” as a result of his departure, calling his “creation of John Dutton…symbolic and powerful.”
Sheridan downplayed their alleged tension and creative differences: “I’ve never had a problem with Kevin that he and I couldn’t resolve over the phone.
“But once lawyers get involved, people can’t talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and try to shift blame based on how the press or public seems to be reacting.”
Sheridan said Costner “took a lot of this to heart” in terms of the saga playing out publicly, adding, “I don’t know if anyone deserves it.”
Sheridan said of Horizon: An American Saga: “His movie seems to be a big priority for him and he wants to change focus. I hope (the movie) is worth it and that it’s good.”
Costner said earlier this month eastern time of a possible comeback for Yellowstone’s final season: “I wish I could do it, but we haven’t been able to.”
When asked about his character’s fate, Costner said he “had my own fantasy about what it could be, but” it was ultimately Sheridan’s decision.
“I told him a while ago,” Costner said. “I thought how could it happen, but we have to see.”