NEW YORK — For Wes Bentley, the departure of Kevin Costner from Yellowstone left a void as he and his castmates began filming the series’ final batch of episodes.
Bentley, who plays Jamie, the adopted son of Costner’s Montana rancher John Dutton, told Postmedia that the Oscar winner’s decision not to come back as the head of the Dutton clan wasn’t a complete surprise.
Instead of returning to Yellowstone, Costner opted to focus his attention on his own four-part Western titled Horizon: An American Saga that he co-wrote, directed and starred in. The first film hit theatres this past summer, with a planned sequel due out later this year. Unbowed by its cool critical and box office reception, Costner is already hard at work on the third and fourth instalments.
“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 realized that I’m not going to be able to continue, season five or into the future,” he said in a video message shared to his social media earlier this year.
“You’re always kind of prepared in TV nowadays that big changes are going to happen,” Bentley, 46, shared at the Season 5B premiere in Manhattan Thursday night. “So mentally I was already prepared.” But the absence of Costner’s patriarch left a hole in the lives of his TV children, which includes Kelly Reilly’s Beth, his daughter and business partner, Luke Grimes’ cowboy Kayce, and Cole Hauser as Rip, John’s right-hand man and other adopted son.
“The thing about it was, it was a lot different for the characters. For Jamie, his whole focus was John Dutton and getting John Dutton’s approval, so (his decision not to return) really changed a lot in Jamie.”
How Taylor Sheridan‘s mega-hit Western plans to explain Dutton’s absence when Part II of Season 5 of Yellowstone premieres Nov. 10 on Paramount+ is a closely guarded secret.
“I was excited to come back and see what it was going to be, because we left things off on a crazy note,” Bentley said. “It’s going to be interesting.”
The finale of Part I, titled A Knife and No Coin, teased a murderous plot brewing between Dutton family siblings Jamie and Beth.
“Kelly and I for the whole time we’ve shot this show have imagined all these different endings. Them going to therapy or them teaming up,” Bentley contemplated. “But it’s just been a full-on war and so you’re going to get a full-on war this season.”
He likens the upcoming episodes to a rollercoaster, but pauses as he tries to decide which one.
“It’s going to be like that one that takes you forward and then backwards. Something like that,” he said.
Another ever-changing relationship on Yellowstone has been the one between ranch owner Dutton and casino mogul Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham).
Birmingham said he understood Costner’s decision to prioritize Horizon, but acknowledged there is a void in these final six episodes.
“Kevin was such a big part of the success of Yellowstone,” Birmingham said. “But he has his own ambitions and we wish him well.”
With Costner’s departure and the series’ impending end, Bentley is still processing what Yellowstone has meant to its legion of fans. The Western is one of the most-watched programs in the world and has spawned a myriad of spinoffs and prequels.
After Yellowstone concludes, Sheridan will continue telling stories set inside the Dutton universe with new seasons of his prequels 1923 (starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren) and 1883(with Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) on the way, as well as The Madison, a new sequel series that will be led by Michelle Pfeiffer.
Earlier this year, David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios, which produces Yellowstone with MTV Entertainment, said the new series “will be picking up where Yellowstone leaves off in another epic tale.”
Two other series set in the Yellowstone-verse are also in development — 1944 and another set at the 6666 ranch that appeared in Season 4.
“It’s something that I’m going to have to look back on to completely figure out,” Bentley said of the popularity of the crime-drama. “We had our targeted group and they loved it. But every year, it got bigger and bigger and we added more to the pile. I think it was different for everyone, including who they pictured as the antagonist and the protagonist. That’s pretty fascinating. You don’t get a lot of shows where that’s even a discussion.”
On the red carpet Thursday night, Ian Bohen, who plays Ryan on the hit show, said these last episodes aren’t necessarily the end when it comes to the Dutton family and the Yellowstone ranch.
“We’re not necessarily using that word,” he said. “This is our second instalment of the fifth season. Certain relationships and larger themes will maybe conclude, but Yellowstone is a saga that is ongoing.”
Bentley echoed this sentiment, adding that there will always be stories to tell when it comes to America’s favourite Montana ranchers.
“Is the door closed? The door is never closed,” he said.
Yellowstone Season 5B hits Paramount+ on Nov. 10.