Yellowstone star explains Kevin Costner’s “unfortunate” exit

Yellowstone star Luke Grimes has spoken out about Kevin Costner’s exit from the series, coming after the actor expressed an interest in returning.

The wait for Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 has been arduous. It’s set for release in November, meaning it’ll have been off the air for nearly two years before finishing its fifth season.

But that’s not even the main source of anxiety: Costner, who plays the show’s mainstay patriarch John Dutton, has since left the series. It’s unclear how the closing episodes will handle his absence; some suspect he’ll be taken to the Train Station, but this hasn’t been confirmed.

In a new interview with The Independent, Grimes (who plays Kayce Dutton) addressed the lead star’s exit from the hit Western series. “Whatever happened there is unfortunate if it’s changed anything about how the show was going to unfold,” he said.

“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.”

Costner’s commitment to Horizon: An American Saga, his two-part Western blockbuster coming to cinemas this summer, is believed to have been a major catalyst behind his feud with Taylor Sheridan.

In a recent interview, he said he’d “like to be able to [return in Season 5] but we haven’t been able to… I thought I was going to make seven [seasons] but right now we’re at five. So how it works out — I hope it does — but they’ve got a lot of different shows going on. Maybe it will. Maybe this will circle back to me. If it does and I feel really comfortable with [it], I’d love to do it.”

If Dutton did make an appearance in the show’s final stretch, Costner wants him to be “proactive in what happens and I’ve kind of had my own fantasy how [the character’s final arc] might be. But that’s Taylor’s thing. I said as much to him a while back. I had thoughts how it could happen, but we just have to see.”

Filming will kick off on Season 5 Part 2 in May, and at the time of writing, it’s still set for its fall release later this year. In the meantime, you can check out our guide to the best Yellowstone episodes and a breakdown of all the Yellowstone spinoffs you need to know about.