Hollywood star Kevin Costner has portrayed John Dutton III, the patriarch of the Dutton family, since 2018.
Hollywood star Kevin Costner has portrayed John Dutton III, the patriarch of the Dutton family, since 2018.
The fate of Kevin Costner’s hugely popular Yellowstone character has finally been revealed following months of behind-the-scenes drama.
WARNING – Yellowstone spoilers follow
Ever since the first episode of Yellowstone debuted in 2018, Hollywood star Kevin Costner has portrayed John Dutton III, the patriarch of the Dutton family.
The smash-hit series, which airs locally on Netflix and Neon, follows the Dutton family as they fight to protect their land from political rivals and land developers.
However, after some behind-the-scenes drama involving Costner, the fate of his character has finally been revealed.
The star was involved in some behind-the-scenes drama. Photo / Paramount
In the first episode of the second half of Season 5, it was revealed that John Dutton was killed after a fatal gunshot wound in the bathroom of the Montana governor’s mansion. It appears Costner wasn’t on-set to film the scene, because while his character’s bloodied corpse is shown the camera never cuts to his face.
Costner’s co-star, Luke Grimes, recently shared his thoughts on the Hollywood actor’s departure from the show.
“Him not coming back felt like, ‘Okay, we’re going to have to land this plane now for real,’” Grimes told People Magazine.
“I think the patriarch leaving was always going to be part of the story. That’s always where it was headed is like, what do these kids do? What does this family do when their rock is gone?
Costner's character is still a heavily featured presence in the next season.
“Whatever the circumstances may be, [it] definitely felt like, ‘Okay, we’re coming in for a landing,’” he said of Costner’s exit. “It definitely felt different.”
Costner first broke news of his decision to quit back in June in a video he shared on Instagram.
“I want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that’s required, and thinking about Yellowstone, that beloved series that I love, that I know you love, I just realised that I’m not going to be able to continue Season 5B or into the future,” he said.
“It was something that really changed me. I loved it. And I know you loved it. And I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning and I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop and I’ll see you at the movies.”
Despite John Dutton III not being alive, the director of the first six episodes of the new season, Christina Voros, shared that his character is still a heavily featured presence.
“To say any more than that would potentially compromise all the work that went into redacting the scripts,” she told Hollywood Reporter. “But I think the reason people are wondering, ‘Is he, isn’t he? Where is he, where is he not?’ is because he is the patriarch, and his presence is an essential component to the story. John Dutton is still central.”
