2 weeks Ago By Hannah Furnell
The cast of Yellowstone felt lead actor Kevin Costner 's absence deeply on set after his exit . Actor Luke Grimes, who plays Kayce Dutton , the son of Costner's character, John Dutton , revealed that the Hollywood star's decision to not return after nearly eight years working on the show instilled "a finality to it." In May, Costner—who helmed Yellowstone for its first four and a half seasons from 2018 to 2022— confirmed that he wasn’t returning for the second part of the show’s fifth season after a year of rumors.
Yellowstone villain Neal McDonough weighs in on Kevin Costner exit Kevin Costner 'disappointed' in Yellowstone bosses as they announce Season 5B premiere Now, his on-screen son has told People : "Him not coming back felt like, 'Okay, we're going to have to land this plane now for real.'" Grimes added: "I think the patriarch leaving was always going to be part of the story. That's always where it was headed is like, what do these kids do? What does this family do when their rock is gone?" Although he acknowledged the "drama" that predated Yellowstone's return to filming — including scheduling conflicts between Costner's Horizon: An American Saga and Yellowstone that led to the actor's exit in June — Grimes added that he felt as though "it was always going to go that way.
" "Whatever the circumstances may be, [it] definitely felt like, 'Okay, we're coming in for a landing,'" he said of Costner's absence. "It definitely felt different." "He's a big presence, man, guy's an icon," the actor added.
"So not having him around to set felt a little different. But as always, I mean, we're a big family now. It was just as special and hopefully, the fans will be able to connect with the story just as much .
.. I think they will be able to.
" With Costner's departure, fans are wondering what will come next for the Duttons, but Grimes suggests "there's always rumblings." "I think when anything is this successful, there's a pressure to keep it going because they know they have an audience and that's what they're looking for," he said. Don't miss: Kevin Costner has 'reconsidered his stance' about returning to Yellowstone Kevin Coster 'selfishly' defends decision to cast his son in his own movie Horizon Everything Kevin Costner has said about returning to Yellowstone "But it all comes down to Taylor [Sheridan's] vision.
He has to see it to be able to write it, and I don't think he's going to write something that he doesn't want to. "Basically we're just going to see if Taylor has an idea that he gets excited about, and that's going to make all the difference here." Cole Hauser , who plays John Dutton's right-hand-man and son-in-law Rip, has opened up about what's in store for the western series after Costner's exit.
In a intervew Hauser said the new season will be very much about "picking up the pieces and moving on." Hauser explained the season will see his character helping run the Dutton Family ranch and supporting his wife Beth, in a bid to help fill the void left by Costner's departure. He added: “Figure out how to lose such a polarizing figure in John Dutton and also come together as a family and as a unit, and understand what happened.
"Everybody really has their moment to deal with the loss and to survive." He added: "There’s just a lot of different moving pieces that TaylorSheridan, the show's co-creator "did a really good job and a really smart job of doing." Hauser also said he hopes fans will be happy with how the series ends, saying: "I think there are millions of people who have an idea of how it's going to be, I think some will be very wrong.
" In an interview on CBS Mornings Hauser said he and Taylor Sheridan worked closely together to developing Rip's progression throughout the series. He said: "In talking to Taylor and spending a lot of time with him, I saw a character that had growth, and who could grow through the seasons." Hauser also he "liked the fact that [Rip] was the enforcer.
" He added: "There was something that was very kind of beautiful that he wrote as far as his love for Beth - and the family, for that matter - and John Dutton." Yellowstone returns on Sunday, November 10 at 8 p.m.
ET/PT on the Paramount Network. All five seasons are streaming on Peacock and Paramount+..
