Luke Grimes wasn’t too sad when Kevin Costner left “Yellowstone.”
The 40-year-old actor who plays Kayce Dutton in the hit series got candid with Esquire about Costner’s controversial departure from the show.
“Hopefully everyone can see that it was time,” Grimes said in the interview, which published Tuesday. “To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone.”
“Obviously, it didn’t make it super fun to be around,” Grimes continued. “Not pointing any fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we’ve filmed.”
Costner left “Yellowstone” after filming only the first half of Season 5 and moved on to focus on his new Western film series, “Horizon.”
The Oscar winner has denied that he quit the show because of an alleged feud with creator Taylor Sheridan.
During the Season 5B premiere that aired Nov. 11, Costner’s John Dutton was murdered in a plot orchestrated by lawyer Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), sparking significant fan backlash.
Costner weighed in on John’s death on SiriusXM’s “The Michael Smerconish Program” and revealed that he didn’t get a heads up about his character’s fate.
“I didn’t see it. I heard it’s a suicide. That doesn’t make me wanna rush to go see it,” he said.
At the 2024 Governors Awards on Nov. 17, Costner acknowledged it was the producers’ call to decide what to do with John.
“Who am I? They do what they want. That’s fine with me,” the star said.
With only one episode left of “Yellowstone,” Grimes told Esquire that he’s ready to say goodbye to the show that’s dominated his life since 2018.
“It feels like good timing. Seven years is a long time to do anything, and I had never played a character for more than a few months before,” the actor explained.
“I’ve loved all of it. But there is a part of it that—once you read those final episodes—sees that there’s a finality to it,” Grimes added.
Grimes also revealed if he’s paid attention to the fan reaction to Season 5 — specifically how they felt about John’s death.
“In the past, no, because it would have hurt my feelings. This year, I read a little bit of the fan reaction about John Dutton dying,” he shared. “I was just interested in how people were feeling about that, because I think we all had a pretty good idea that people weren’t going to like it very much. But I’m careful.”
When asked if the fans will be pleased with the series finale airing Sunday, Grimes said with a laugh, “At the rate we’re headed, I don’t think they’re going to be satisfied with anything.”
“Some people will realize that it was very well written and well executed,” the “American Sniper” star continued. “But a large part will just be mad that it’s over, which is fair.”
It was announced that “Yellowstone” would end with Season 5 in May 2023.
On Wednesday, Deadline reported that a spinoff series about Kelly Reilly’s Beth and Cole Hauser’s Rip set in the same present-day time frame as the flagship series is in the works.
Sources also told Deadline that “doing another season” of “Yellowstone” “is not out of the question.”
The “Yellowstone” Season 5B finale airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on the Paramount Network.
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