‘Yellowstone’ star Luke Grimes speaks bluntly about Kevin Costner’s exit: ‘Easier’ without ‘conflict’

Luke Grimes wasn’t too sad when Kevin Costner left Yellowstone.

The 40-year-old actor, who plays Kayce Dutton on the hit series, opened up to Esquire about Costner’s controversial departure from the series.

“Hopefully everyone can see that it was time,” Grimes said in the interview published Tuesday. “To be honest, there was some of Kevin leaving, which meant some of the conflict was gone.”

“Obviously it wasn’t particularly fun to be here,” Grimes continued. “I don’t want to point fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we’ve ever filmed.”

Costner left “Yellowstone” after filming only the first half of the fifth season and continued to focus on his new western film series “Horizon.”

The Oscar winner has denied that he left the show because of an alleged feud with creator Taylor Sheridan.

During the Season 5 premiere, which aired on November 11, Costner’s John Dutton was murdered in a plot orchestrated by attorney Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), sparking significant backlash from fans.

Costner commented on John’s death on SiriusXM’s “The Michael Smerconish Program,” revealing that he had no idea of ​​his character’s fate.

“I didn’t see it. I heard it was suicide. “That doesn’t make me want to watch it right away,” he said.

At the 2024 Governors Awards on November 17, Costner admitted that it was the producers’ decision what to do with John.

“Who am I? They do whatever they want. That’s fine with me,” the star said.

With only one episode left of “Yellowstone,” Grimes told Esquire that he’s ready to say goodbye to the series that has dominated his life since 2018.

“It feels like good timing. Seven years is a long time to do something and I had never played a character for more than a few months,” the actor explained.

“I loved everything. But there’s a part of it that – if you read the final episodes – you realize there’s a finality to it,” Grimes added.

Grimes also revealed whether he’s been paying attention to fans’ reaction to Season 5 – particularly their feelings about John’s death.

“Before, no, because it would have hurt my feelings. This year I read a small portion of the fan reaction to the death of John Dutton,” he shared. “I was just interested in what people thought about it, because I think we all had a pretty good idea that people wouldn’t like it very much. But I’m careful.”

Asked if fans will be happy with Sunday’s airing of the series finale, Grimes said with a laugh: “At the rate we’re going, I don’t think they’ll be happy with anything.”

“Some people will find that it was very well written and well executed,” the “American Sniper” star continued. “But a large portion will just be angry that it’s over, and that’s fair.”

It was announced that “Yellowstone” will end with Season 5 in May 2023.

On Wednesday, Deadline reported that a spinoff series about Kelly Reilly’s “Beth” and Cole Hauser’s “Rip,” set in the same time frame as the flagship series, is in the works.

Sources also told Deadline that “another season” of “Yellowstone” is “not out of the question.”

The Season 5 finale of “Yellowstone” airs Sunday at 8:00 pm ET on Paramount Network.