Yellowstone has been one of the most remarkable TV series in the recent past. The Taylor Sheridan show primarily focuses on the largest ranch owners in Montana, the Dutton family with its primary focus on Kevin Costner’s John Dutton III. While Costner has given an incredible performance as Dutton, actor Josh Lucas also played a younger version of the character in the series.
The Taylor Sheridan series is known for its repeated use of flashback sequences to explain present events. Surprisingly, despite playing the same character, Josh Lucas and Kevin Costner never met each other on the set. Lucas explained that Sheridan had a unique approach to the show and did not want the actors to meet.
Why did Taylor Sheridan not let Kevin Costner and Josh Lucas meet?
As per an interview with Collider, Josh Lucas felt honored to work alongside names like Taylor Sheridan and Kevin Costner. He described Sheridan as a “fascinating, amazing screenwriter and storyteller“ and revealed that it was an incredible experience to play the younger version of Costner’s character.
When Josh Lucas praised Kevin Costner as an “icon”, he was asked if he felt intimidated by the latter on set. The American Psycho actor, surprising everybody, answered that Taylor Sheridan deliberately kept them separated from each other.
“Luckily, he’s not there when I’m shooting. We’re almost kept separate on purpose. Taylor and I talked about the idea of The Godfather. When [Robert] De Niro was playing Brando, he wasn’t attempting to look or act like Marlon Brando. He was attempting to play the character. That’s what we talked about.”
Citing the example of The Godfather Part II, Josh Lucas explained that Sheridan did not want their character to be totally identical, just like how Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro never attempted to mimic each other in Francis Ford Coppola’s classic.
It can be undoubtedly said that the Yellowstone creator’s technique makes some difference. Not only does it take the pressure off Lucas, but also gives us viewers a different approach to the character. Following his popularity and experience in earlier seasons, Josh Lucas has also shown interest in returning to the series.
Will Josh Lucas and Kevin Costner return to Yellowstone‘s Season 5 Part 2?
It has been a long time since we saw the conclusion of Yellowstone’s last season’s first half. The second half went through a lot of drama after it was announced that Kevin Costner may not return to his role. Although there is a high uncertainty if Costner will return in Season 5’s Part 2, nothing can be confirmed yet.
On the other hand, Deadline reported that Josh Lucas had a chat with Taylor Sheridan and is hoping to reprise his role in the second half of the final chapter.
“I did text Taylor [Sheridan] a couple of months back and said, ‘hey man, I’ve loved working on the show so much’. He’s like, ‘well we’ll be back.'”
Lucas also added that there is a plan to do 10 or more episodes for the final chapter. Surprisingly, another report by Puck now suggests that Kevin Costner wants to return in the final season, at least for a cameo. However, it is also reported that the scripts have been locked and the filming is yet to begin in a few days. If the reports are to be believed, then the script is written without him, and Taylor Sheridan may not alter it to include any cameo.
It must also be noted that part 2 of Season 5 has already faced a huge delay due to the Hollywood strikes. Any potential rewrite will delay it more. So, it will be interesting to watch if Kevin Costner returns to the series, Josh Lucas’ younger version gets a superior role, or if the series takes an entirely different turn.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 is set to be streamed on November 10, 2024, on Peacock.
