Taylor Sheridan has left an indelible impact on the entertainment world by crafting the hit series, Yellowstone. The neo-western drama captivated the audience by exploring trivial details to showcase the spirit of what ranch life can be. With immense success, it brought several actors to wider prominence including Kevin Costner, who played the series leading role of John Dutton.
However, he surprised the fans after announcing his exit after five years of playing the leading character. As time went by, several reasons came to surface, including leaving the show to focus on his own Western epic, a four-movie saga titled Horizon. And looks like Sheridan has the answer to this!
Taylor Sheridan Talked About Kevin Costner’s Reason to Leave Yellowstone
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Taylor Sheridan gave an insight into his wonderful time with the Yellowstone franchise. In one segment, he addressed actor, Kevin Costner‘s exit from the series to focus on his own project.
He shared,
“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct. 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.”
His exit surely disappointed many since none expected the lead character to walk away, especially at a point when the show was racking profits. However, Sheridan’s opinion about the latter as an actor has not been altered. He continued in the same interview,
“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. 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 took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it.”
He further commented on his project stating,
“His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.”
Reportedly, a lot of drama was happening behind the scenes with the actor. Costner himself threw light on what exactly led him to leave the show.
Kevin Costner Addressed His Exit from Yellowstone
For the unversed, Costner was engaged in a legal lawsuit with his second wife, Christine Baumgartner over alimony and child support. During the court testimony, he unveiled the reason which led him to leave the hit series.
As per PEOPLE, wanted to focus on his Horizon: An American Saga series which didn’t fit well with Yellowstone‘s filming schedule. He shared that he “changed” his schedule to film the season 5’s first half. He further added that he was willing to return to the sixth season but the salary negotiations with them were not working.
“I couldn’t help them any more. We tried to negotiate, they offered me less money than previous seasons, there were issues with the creative…”
He even tried to negotiate one last time as he told his agent to “have them pay me whatever number, we came up with a number, and they [Yellowstone] walked away.”
He later revealed that he asked for $12 million. Eventually, he decided to let go of the project. The second half of the fifth and last season is yet to be announced which was affected due to the WGA strike.
Meanwhile, Yellowstone is now streaming on Peacock Premium.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, PEOPLE
