As Kevin Costner bids farewell to Dutton Ranch, his co-stars are wishing him happy trails.
Yellowstone star Neal McDonough raved about working with Costner, 69, in an interview with TMZ as he chimed in on the reason for his departure from the hit Paramount show.
‘I’ve always said, pound for pound, Kevin is not only one of the most talented guys ever, but one of my guys I’ve ever worked with,’ he said.
‘We get each other, and it was really such an honor to be part of that show with him in that iconic character he played,’ added McDonough, 58. ‘But things happen after time and schedules conflict.’
He continued, ‘I love Kevin like crazy, I also love [creator Taylor Sheridan] and David Glasser at 101 … Yellowstone was something that was so amazing to be part of.’
McDonough also touched on reports of Costner’s rift with Sheridan, 54, as he addressed the actor’s reason for leaving.
‘It was really just a timing thing. What Kevin was saying before is he was off doing Horizon, Taylor’s doing his shows, and this one took a while to get cooking for the last season.
‘So, it’s really between those guys. But I think Cole Hauser stepping up into that position now as the chief Dutton kinda guy, I think he’s gonna be just fine. I think fans are absolutely gonna love the show.
‘But Kevin was what made the franchise. Kevin was it, Kevin was everything. So, he will be sorely missed on this show, for certain.
Costner, 69, previously made it official that he won’t be reprising his role as John Dutton on the hit Western crime series when it returns for season 5B.
‘Hi everyone. I just want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that’s required, and thinking about Yellowstone — that beloved series that I love, that I know you love — I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue Season 5B or into the future,’ Costner announced somberly while gazing into the camera.
Previous reports indicated that Costner was likely done for good with the series after conflicts between himself and producers over pay, his schedule and his availability to film his multi-part Western epic Horizon: An American Saga.
‘It was something that really changed me,’ Costner said of the Paramount Network series.
‘I loved it, and I know you loved it,’ he reiterated. ‘I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning.’
The actor and director concluded with what may have been an entreaty for his fans to see his upcoming Horizon films.
‘I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies,’ he said as a slight smile crossed his lips.
The announcement means that Costner’s final run of episodes were for season 5A, which aired from November of 2022 to January of 2023.
His character, the patriarch of the Dutton family, ran the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, a fictional ranch that was the largest in Montana.
It bordered Yellowstone National Park and the Broken Rock Indian Reservation, which often put the wealthy family at odds with their Native American neighbors and greedy developers looking to snatch up their land.
Before shutting the door on the possibility of returning for season 5B, Costner butted heads against producers, as he reportedly wanted to shoot fewer days for the season to accommodate filming of Horizon.
So far, that film is expected to earn a disappointing $12 million on its opening weekend, despite Costner having contributed $40 million of his own money to the passion project. However, his latest announcement may encourage some of his Yellowstone fans to buy a ticket to the high-profile Western.
Costner has disputed reports of the nature of his disagreements over Yellowstone, and he complained that the show’s producers declined to defend him amid reports he disagreed with.
The actor has also denied that his issues with the series were due to his Horizon filming schedule.
He has said that he was ready to return to film season 5B, but the scripts for the second half of the season had allegedly not been written in time.
Some fans and critics have pointed the finger and showrunner and co-creator Taylor Sheridan, who has written all of the show’s scripts since season three.
He is also the showrunner, writer and director of multiple Yellowstone spinoffs, as well as several other shows he has created for Paramount and its streaming service Paramount+, leading some to suggest that he has stretched himself too thin, which led him to allegedly fail to produce scripts in time for Costner to film the second half of season five.
Sheridan has disputed that he is too busy due to his multiples shows and other projects.
Costner also had the additional aggravation during his downtime of his divorce from his wife Christine Baumgartner, during which the two battled in court of their prenuptial agreement and financial support she was requesting.
Fans of Yellowstone and Costner swarmed the comments of his new video to express their sorrow over his departure.
Several fans expressed that sentiment that Yellowstone simply wouldn’t work — or even exist — without Costner’s gravitas.
‘Well, this really really breaks my heart. There’s no Yellowstone without you, Sir,’ mourned one commenter.
‘There is no Yellowstone without Mr. Costner,’ concurred another fan.
Several others applauded him for the nature of his announcement, as he avoided criticizing any of the other people involved in his departure.
‘That was kind of you to let the fans know about the status of Yellowstone true gentleman through and through and thoughtful to his fans,’ wrote one approving Instagram user.
Another said they couldn’t bring themself ‘to like’ Costner’s post, but added: ‘Thank you for being upstanding and a gentleman about it. Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors, and can’t wait to see what’s next [dove and olive branch emojis].’
Others were more vocal about their sorrow over Costner saying goodbye for good to Yellowstone.
‘NOOOOOOOOOOO MR. Dutton, Please don’t do this to me,’ commented one user who added a string of alternate broken heart and crying emojis.
While the comments were overwhelmingly positive toward Costner, a few had their knives out.
‘I’m team Taylor Sheridan 100%. Goodbye Kevin!’ one gleeful critic wrote.
But even if his days with Yellowstone were now over for good, several of his fans made it clear they would be supporting his upcoming Horizon films.
Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter One will be released in theaters on June 28, with Chapter Two hitting theaters on August 16.
Costner has already begun film Chapter Three, and he has said he plans to films Chapter Four concurrently.