While the divorce dispute between Kevin Costner and his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner continues to worsen, another big part of Costner’s life, his role as John Dutton in Yellowstone, is also making headlines. On June 21, the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan, got candid with The Hollywood Reporter on the rumored on-set tensions between them, Costner’s decision to leave the show abruptly and where Costner’s John Dutton currently stands.“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” Sheridan said of Costner, showing his respect for the actor. “His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful… and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone.”
Per Sheridan, the issues began, however, when Costner’s team began getting involved. “But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting,” he said. “He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it.”
After a series of miscommunications and rumors, Costner announced he would be leaving the show earlier this year. Not long after, Paramount confirmed that the show will end with the upcoming second half of its fifth season.
Following his departure from the show, Costner went straight to work on his newest project: a four-part movie series called Horizon: An American Saga. “His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus,” Sheridan added. “I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.” Can anyone else feel the tension in the room?
Also in the talk, Sheridan remembered his last conversation with Costner, one that revolved around Horizon. “My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” he remembered. “He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with Yellowstone. I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”
As for what the future holds for John Dutton, his ending is still a mystery. For Sheridan, having to think of the protagonist’s storyline without Costner was “disappointing,” to say the least. “It truncates the closure of his character,” he said. “It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
There’s one common TV trope, however, that Sheridan wants to steer clear of: the “f—you car crashes.” “Whether [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t factor in with regard to storytelling,” he said. Ouch!
Though it looks like these two don’t have many positive things to say about it other, at least their time working together is long behind them. On to better and brighter things, right?