Kevin Costner Admits Filming 'Yellowstone' "Hasn't Been an Easy Adjustment" for Him
Kevin Costner plays John Dutton on Yellowstone, cable's highest-rated original drama.
A longtime fan of westerns, Costner says the show has "gold dust on it."
Before the series became the success, the 64-year-old doubted that it would be a hit.
It seems crazy to think that Yellowstone, Paramount Network's mega-successful drama series, was once pitched to Kevin Costner as "a long movie." But according to Costner, that's exactly how the show's co-creator Taylor Sheridan described the ranching drama — and the 64-year-old movie star couldn't pass up the chance to make another western movie. (FYI: Costner has been in several, including Open Range, Silverado, and Wyatt Earp.)
The "long movie"eventually turned into a 10-episode miniseries similar to Hatfields & McCoys, which Costner won a Golden Globe for thanks to his performance as "Devil" Anse Hatfield. As buzz about the show picked up, the miniseries evolved into a full-fledged TV show, leaving Costner uneasy about what this meant for the script, his character, and most importantly, his career. "I felt like in a way a lot of it had been put together because of me agreeing to do it," he revealed on Popcorn with Peter Travers. "I thought actually if I would have said that I wouldn't do it, it would have crumbled before it got started. I took the weight on of emotionally not wanting to have the show crumble."
So, is it fair to say that Costner wasn't into the idea of making a TV show? Well, it depends who you ask. Although he has said that they don't "treat it [Yellowstone] like TV," it still, well, is. The change of pace, the length of character development, and the demanding filming schedule has tested Costner. He even admits that although the show is halfway through season 2, he's still getting the hang of this new way of filming: "It hasn’t been an easy adjustment for me. I don’t like it too much," he confessed in a recent interview with IndieWire.
That's not to say that Costner isn't happy for Yellowstone's success. When Costner first read the script and was introduced to John Dutton, he believed there was "a lot of gold dust on it." In other words, this western movie super-fan knew that a story set on a modern-day ranch was special. Even after the show received rave reviews during season 1, he was still convinced that his time as John Dutton was coming to an end. Now in its second season and picked up for a third, Costner admits that he was very wrong. "It's like I was raised in a cave or something,"Costner joked on CBS This Morning.
Even though Costner is still adjusting to being a TV star, he's set to return for season 3 as John Dutton and the show's executive producer. So, good thing Costner was wrong way back when.
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