Sign up for our breaking news emails for free real-time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox

Sign up for our free breaking news emails

Sign up for our free breaking news emails

The cast of Yellowstone open up about Kevin Costner’s absence in the second part of the show’s final season.

The hit Paramount Plus drama returns for the ninth episode of its fifth season on Sunday (November 10).

Lead actor Costner – who played ranch owner John Dutton – will not appear in the final six episodes of the series after leaving the show in June due to scheduling conflicts. His departure came amid reports that the Dancing with wolves star had gone out Yellowstone showrunner Taylor Sheridan.

At the premiere of season five, part two in New York this week, Luke Grimes, who plays Kayce Dutton, said: “It’s hard to imagine the show without him. But that’s always where the show was going. It was: Can these kids do it without him?

He continued: “So we all knew it would come to this, we just didn’t know how or when, and it was clearly different than we thought. But what it did do was boost the show to a 10 and now everything is starting to unravel.

The 40-year-old admitted he was “a little disappointed” that the rest of the cast didn’t know Costner wouldn’t be returning to conclude the fifth season.

“I think I was probably a little disappointed that we didn’t know he wasn’t coming back,” he began. “I think there might have been a better farewell if we had done it in a different way. It was, you know, it was more of a surprise than anything.

“But like I said, that’s above my pay grade. And our job is to just show up and do what’s on the page, and do it the best we can,” Grimes said.

Meanwhile, Wes Bentley, who plays Jamie Dutton, added: “We miss him. He plays a big role in the show and is a great guy to have around.”

Watch Apple TV+ for free for 7 days

New subscribers only. £8.99/month. after free trial period. Schedule automatic renewal until cancellation

Try for free

Watch Apple TV+ for free for 7 days

New subscribers only. £8.99/month. after free trial period. Schedule automatic renewal until cancellation

Try for free

In June, Costner said People he was “disappointed” with the way producers handled the rumors surrounding his departure.

“I loved the show. I liked the people on the show. I liked what it was about. I love that world,” he said at the time.

In an April interview with The independent, Grimes said of Costner’s departure: “Whatever happened there, it’s a shame if it changed anything about how the show was going to unfold. I know, (Costner) was doing his passion project films (his new one Horizon: an American saga movies). At some point you gotta do what you gotta do, man; you should do what you love.”

Ahead of the release of episode nine, Yellowstone director Christina Voros said that Costner would play an “integral” role in the show’s ending despite his departure.

“John Dutton is still central,” she said The Hollywood Reporter. “His presence is essential. I think if I said anything more it might jeopardize all the work that went into editing the scripts!

“But I think the reason why people wonder, ‘Isn’t he?’ Where is he, where isn’t he?’ is because he is the patriarch and his presence is an essential part of the story.

While Yellowstone is coming to an end, Sheridan isn’t done with Montana yet. He recently announced that Michelle Pfeiffer will lead the upcoming edition Yellowstone sequel series, The Madison. The new series follows a family of New Yorkers who move to the Madison River Valley in central Montana.

Yellowstone airs weekly on Sundays on Paramount Plus at 8pm ET.