‘Yellowstone’ Cast’s Prior Roles: Where You’ve Seen Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes and More of the Show’s Stars Before

Cowboy cool! Yellowstone has taken TV by storm since its 2018 debut on Paramount, but many of its stars are not new to the acting world.

The show’s leading man, Kevin Costner, who plays Montana ranch owner John Dutton, isn’t the only actor on the series with a lot of experience. Luke Grimes, who plays John’s youngest son Kayce Dutton, for example, got his real start on TV with a part on Brothers & Sisters in 2009.

The role of Kayce, however, is unlike any other for Grimes, who hails from the Midwest.

“When you’re a little boy and you want to be an actor, what are some things you want to play? A cowboy, a soldier,” Grimes told Entertainment Tonight in January 2022. “It's kind of all of the dream roles wrapped into one. He’s just an emotionally complex guy but also a badass. It’s all good stuff.”

Costner, for his part, gushed over the writing behind Yellowstone, crediting the relatability to the reason the drama became one of the most-watched cable series in 2021.

“I think [cocreator] Taylor [Sheridan] has written dialogue that sometimes we wish would come out of our mouth. … There’s that great dialogue,” the Field of Dreams star told E! News at the SAG Awards in February 2022. “Then if you take that idea of that dialogue singing that way, and you put it against mountains and rivers and horses running, there’s an appeal that has caught people’s attention at least.”

The cast, which was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the SAGs, didn’t win, but it was still a big accomplishment for the showrunners, and all involved.

“There’s no bigger compliment to an actor than being recognized by their peers,” Sheridan said in a statement ahead of the 2022 awards show, noting it was the first SAGs nod his team received after four seasons on the air. “Congratulations to our incredibly talented cast on this wonderful and well-deserved nomination.”

The Paramount show follows the dealings of the Dutton family, who own the largest ranch in Montana. The cast also includes Kelly Reilly as John Dutton’s daughter, Beth, and Wes Bentley as his other son, Jamie. Gil Birmingham, Cole Hauser and Kelsey Asbille round out the ensemble. In May 2023, it was confirmed that season 5 of the hit show would be its last.

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Scroll down to see which Yellowstone stars had big careers before becoming a part of the series — and which actors are still relatively new.