Luke Grimes Talks Show’s Critics & Kevin Costner’s Exit

As Yellowstone prepares for its final season, the show’s star, Luke Grimes, has opened up about landing his dream role, the hypocrisy of the show’s critics, and his thoughts on Kevin Costner‘s acrimonious exit.

Speaking to the U.K.’s Independent, Grimes admitted it took a little while for him to grow into his role as ranch hand Kayce Dutton, the son of Costner’s John Dutton in the hit neo-Western drama.

“I felt like an idiot for the first year of Yellowstone wearing a cowboy hat,” he confessed. “It takes a while before that doesn’t feel ridiculous. Now, I barely notice it.”

Despite his awkwardness with his outfit, Grimes, who once lost out on the part of Edward Cullen in the Twilight movies, described his Yellowstone part as his “dream role.”

“If I could have figured out my dream role at the age that I got that job, it would have been Kayce,” he shared.

Before landing the Yellowstone gig, Grimes appeared on Brothers & Sisters and True Blood. His breakout came in the Best Picture nominated American Sniper in 2014. From there, he went on to star in the Fifty Shades franchise as Christian Grey’s promiscuous brother, Elliot Grey.

No role has suited Grimes better than Kayce, though, something which he’s proud to admit. However, one part of the job he finds frustrating is the way some critics politicize the show, with it often labeled as a “conservative fantasy.”

“I think a lot of people see a cowboy hat and a horse and they think, ‘Oh, that’s not for me, those people believe differently.’ And it’s almost like they take these flawed characters in the show and chalk it up to some sort of weird belief that they’ve put on them,” he explained.

Grimes called out the hypocrisy, noting, “Meanwhile, you can have a terrible person like [Succession’s] Logan Roy, who lives in an apartment in Manhattan, and that’s fine. That guy’s a total piece of s***. But that’s okay.”

“I just don’t understand why that has to immediately equal some political belief. And I don’t think it does,” he added.

Grimes, who also performs as a country singer, takes that same attitude into his music.

“It doesn’t concern me personally because I don’t feel the need to get super political with my own music,” Grimes said when asked about the politicization of country music. “If listening to music was like looking at the news, then I would never f****** do it.”

While Grimes continues to build his music career, his time at Yellowstone is about to come to a close. The second half of Season 5, which is set to begin filming in May, will mark the show’s last. Unfortunately, it looks like it won’t feature Costner following his alleged falling out with the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan.

“Whatever happened there is unfortunate if it’s changed anything about how the show was going to unfold,” Grimes said of Costner’s departure. “I know [Costner] got busy with his movies that were like passion projects [Horizon: An American Saga ]. At a certain point, you gotta do what you gotta do, man; you gotta do what you love.”

Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 is expected to premiere in November 2024 on Paramount.