Kevin Costner can be defined as a one-man army as he is capable of handling almost everything by himself. Throughout Yellowstone, the actor has capably taken care of every single hurdle and obstacle thrown in his direction. Costner has worked diligently with utmost precision and decisiveness to ensure the series remained a massive hit among its fans. He kept his word and worked tirelessly to keep us hooked on the show for years.
Kevin Costner’s portrayal of John Dutton was loved by fans
Kevin Costner as John Dutton in Yellowstone
The saga that’s set in the Wild West tells the story of the Dutton family, and with the release of the second half of season 5, fans will be bidding adieu to the drama series. However, the show owes an earnest apology to the actor for making him work like a horse which could have been easily avoided.
Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone Owes a Sincere Apology To Kevin Costner
During an exclusive interview with Deadline, Kevin Costner opens up about how each season of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone failed to start production on the expected date. However, he decided to maintain silence “through seasons one, two, three and four,” and “didn’t even complain about” canceling a season for some reason.
Kevin Costner blames how the series never started production on the right date
A still from Yellowstone
He said,
“He should be the main voice of it and all those other things. But everybody lives with a contract and they were comfortable signing. Two companies have to sign the contract they signed with me. I’m a single person. I signed the contract. And I’m not a person who is [inflexible]; every season we didn’t start on time and every season we went over.”
“I dealt with that through seasons one, two, three and four, and didn’t say a word. When they canceled a whole season to make room or whatever, I didn’t even complain about that. I’m only talking about it now.”
He continued how working once a year is something he is not used to and deep down he knew that the showrunners were capable of canceling a season as they had done it once before. He said,
“Five years ago, when they did that, I knew I had to be in position that if they ever did that again — if you do something once you’re capable of doing it again — that I would know what I was going to do. And I wanted to work more than once a year. And I’d only worked at that point in time once a year and I wasn’t used to that.”
The 69-year-old actor added that he understands the different aspects of production and how it can be a tedious process but lacking proper planning to start production will botch things at the end.
“If you aren’t going to really start when you say you’re going to start and you’re going to fudge at the end — I understand production, I get that perfectly. Writing is really hard. I get it.”
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Kevin Costner continued that he had “worked a nine-day week to help them” as much as he could.
“But in my instance, I have real obligations. I had 400 people waiting for me on August 1, and I worked a nine-day week to help them as much as I could. And then I went to do my thing with 20 days of prep or 15 days of prep. Try making a movie that way.”
Indeed, the series owes an apology to the actor as he used to work “nine day-week” to help the show cover up for its lost time. However, in the end, he left the show over his alleged feud with Taylor Sheridan.
Kevin Costner On His Potential Return To The Show
In the same interview, Costner mentioned how he is “very open to coming back,” if the show has something which compels him to return to the show. However, he is fuming over the fact that the showrunner of the series did not stand beside him as he allowed “crazy stories” to be published. But he will be there if the writing is there. He said,
“If they’ve got so many other things going on, maybe this circles back and it’s a really cool two seasons. Or end it, if the writing’s there and I’m happy with it. I’m open to that. But I took a beating over these guys not speaking up for me and allowing crazy stories to come out. I’m not happy about that. But if the writing is there, I will be there too. They had first position.”
Despite their differences Kevin Costner is open to returning to the show
A still from Yellowstone
He opened up about the rumor of him doing Horizon so that he could compete with Yellowstone and him leaving the stories was their mismanagement. He said,
“I didn’t do Horizon because I was tired of doing Yellowstone. That’s a bullsh*t story. I didn’t do Horizon to compete with Yellowstone. This is something I’ve had a long time. Taylor read that script three years earlier when he was contemplating other writers [for Yellowstone].”
“I said, well, you can look at what John [Baird] and I did, not that I think I’m qualified. I think you write Yellowstone beautifully. So, he read that and knew what the thing was about. It’s just that simple: Paramount and 101 Studios mismanaged this.”
He added,
“They had me for five, six, and seven. I agreed to do it. And then they steadily began changing their format. And what about the year that went missing? That 14 months?”
No wonder why Kevin Costner is fuming at Taylor Sheridan and the production studios because a man of Costner’s talent would not appreciate going without work because of the mismanagement of someone else.
