Luke Grimes admitted that he was a bit relieved after his Yellowstone costar, Kevin Costner, left their hit show following alleged tension with creator Taylor Sheridan.
During an interview with Esquire, the 40-year-old actor revealed that filming without the two-time Oscar winner, 69, made things much smoother for him and the rest of the cast.
‘Hopefully everyone can see that it was time,’ Grimes said of Costner departing from the neo-Western drama, which will come to an end on Sunday. ‘To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone.’
He continued: ‘Obviously, it didn’t make it super fun to be around… Not pointing any fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we’ve filmed.’
On the series, Grimes portrays Kayce Dutton, the son of patriarch John Dutton, who was unexpectedly killed in a murder-for-hire plot during the premiere of Yellowstone season five, part two, which aired last month.
Previously, Grimes reminded viewers that it was ‘always the plan’ to have John die.
‘It was always the plan for him to have to go away for the story to really ramp up, and that was the story. You lose a patriarch of the family. Can the kids do it on their own?’ Grimes told People.
He admitted, ‘there’s been some negative reactions’ to Dutton’s death, which was first revealed as a suicide – which most fans didn’t agree with – and later revealed as a hit performed by a company specializing in making homicides look like deaths by other means, namely accidents or suicides.
‘I think they feel sort of cheated. And what I would say to that is, I think we were all lucky to have Kevin on the show as long as we did,’ Grimes said.
He also added that the original plan was to kill off John Dutton much earlier in the story.
‘I think originally he was supposed to die much earlier. So, in a way, they got way more of John Dutton than they were going to originally get. I would keep that in mind,’ Grimes added.
‘If it happened in such a shocking, quick way, that’s how life works, right? I mean, when you lose people, it’s sometimes not how you planned and not when you think it’s going to be,’ Grimes continued.
Costner revealed in June that when he was pitched the show by Sheridan, his character was only going to be around for one season.
‘When it was first pitched to me by Taylor [Sheridan] it was one season and [like] a long movie, which [is] speaking my language… but ultimately, I think what happened was the studio didn’t want that,’ Costner said.
‘And because he’s such a prolific writer, he said, “I can do that. I can make a series that goes on,”‘ Costner added.
He ultimately ‘stepped up’ and agreed to, ‘do it for three seasons, and I ended up doing it for five.’
He also went on to praise Sheridan, stating, ‘I liked the writing and really, really liked what Taylor was doing.’
‘He understood the world of modern-day ranching and was able to create all this other type of drama inside it, but in an effective way,’ Costner added.
With one episode left of Yellowstone, the fate of the Dutton family’s ranch will finally be revealed on Sunday.