Kevin Costner reveals perfect reason he joined Yellowstone in the first place

As Kevin Costner promotes his upcoming project, Horizon: An American Saga, he’s giving fans an insight as to why he joined Yellowstone to begin with.

Costner’s reign as the main star of the Yellowstone cast was a great one. His turn as the fearless, wise patriarch John Dutton was integral in making the Taylor Sheridan show as good as it was, as well as getting it off the ground to begin with.

It’s no secret that fans were disappointed to hear he wouldn’t be returning to Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 amid rumors of a Costner-Sheridan feud. But among the many revelations made during Costner’s Horizon press tour, it was revealed that the star never intended to stay for so many seasons.

In a recent interview with the Armchair Expert podcast, Costner shared why he joined the Western show in the first place. And, honestly, it’s an appeal any Yellowstone fan would understand — the dramatic script and soap opera tendencies.

“Yellowstone was just a really great script,” Costner said. “I just believed in the world, I knew it was a soap opera. I knew we should all be in jail. We’ve all killed people there, and so you throw logic out the window, right, a little bit.”

It’s true, Yellowstone isn’t the most realistic TV show around. Some would even argue that its plot points are downright unbelievable. But that doesn’t make it any less fun. In fact, the sheer insanity and drama of the script it what makes it such an addictive watch. Taylor Sheridan knows what he’s doing, and clearly, Costner thought so too.

“[Taylor Sheridan] has a great ear, and he just wrote that stuff really authentically, and it was good fun,” he added. “And he wrote my part especially well and Kelly [Reilly]’s part. So listen, I had a lot of fun with it. It was really good, I recognized that, so I did it the best I could possibly do it.”

Production of Season 5 Part 2 is currently underway, with the Yellowstone spinoff series, 2024, in development. It’ll include a handful of key cast members from the drama series, excluding Costner as John Dutton.

Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 will release on June 28, 2024. For more, take a look at how to watch all the Kevin Costner Westerns. You can also check out our list on the best Westerns of all time, so you can do your homework.