As Yellowstone comes to an end with season 5 part 2, the actors who have called Dutton Ranch home for the past seven years are starting over. For Luke Grimes, landing the role of Kayce Dutton on Yellowstone has changed his life completely, but he couldn’t be more grateful.
Luke described his feelings about the show coming to an end and his plans for the future after the this chapter closes.
“I’ve been experiencing a lot of different stuff. It’s sort of bittersweet. You know, it’s been seven years of my life. It’s been the single most life-changing job I’ve ever had, and some of these cast and crew became sort of family to me,” Luke told Country Living.
Although fans are understandably devastated to see Yellowstone come to an end, Luke recognizes the importance of protecting the creative integrity of the series.
“It’s sort of sad in one way, but in another way, I’m really excited to kind of see it come to an end. I think it’s kind of time, you know, we’re all feeling like, yeah, this makes sense. We wouldn’t want to drag it out past where we’re still good,” Luke continued.
The Yellowstone Effect: What’s Next for Luke Grimes
Luke is ready to close this chapter of his life, and big change is on the horizon. Even during his time of the show, Lukes’s life changed drastically. Like many of his co-stars (Cole Hauser, Lainey Wilson, you get the idea), being on Yellowstone was a huge catalyst in his career and even impacted his personal life.
Before relocating to Montana for filming, Luke, originally an Ohio native, lived in Los Angeles. Eventually, he and his wife Bianca fully relocated after falling in love with Big Sky Country.
“I moved to Montana where we shoot. I don’t think I would have done that had I not spent so much time up here. When we first started coming up here I was coming from LA, and this felt really sparse and kind of scary, a little bit, you know, up in the middle of nowhere,” he admitted.
Yellowstone impacted Luke’s geographic location and personal life, but also allowed him to take huge strides in his career and pushed him to get outside of his comfort zone.
“As an actor, as an artist, I think it [Yellowstone] taught me a level of sort of bravery. I don’t think I would be doing the music thing. Playing this character gave me a lot of time to sort of reflect on what I really wanted my career to look like and not only my career, but my day-to-day life,” Luke explained. “Starting from there was where I kind of made certain decisions like: I do want to be playing music, and I do want to live in Montana, and I do want to do all these things, and I think I kind of found that through the process of making the show.”
On March 8, 2024, Luke released his self-titled debut album, solidifying his career pivot. Not only did Yellowstone give him the confidence to pursue his passion for country music, it also garnered him an army of fans and supporters for his music.
“Getting into the acting game and all that was so hard, and it took so long, and you know, it took leaving my family and doing all these things that were really tough. The music thing has come a little easier, because I’d already sort of made a name for myself somewhere else,” Luke said.
About the Album
When deciding to switch his focus from acting to music, Luke wanted to make sure his music depicted the real Luke Grimes, an untold story amongst his various on-screen personas. “The goal was just to kind of be really honest and earnest and be myself and not make something that was too overproduced. The record label helps me keep it more about who I really am, since I’ve been playing these characters for so long,” Luke revealed.
“So this starts at zero, it starts at the beginning of my story, and kind of just talks about a lot of the things I went through, like leaving Ohio and some heartbreak and meeting my wife and how amazing that’s been and some more personal stuff. So the whole thing is about my journey,” he continued.
Although the characters Luke plays on television and in movies don’t depict the real Luke Grimes, many represent hardworking, salt-of-the Earth personalities that Luke himself identifies with.
“I grew up in Ohio, and I come from working class people. My first job was concrete, and my dad started blue collar, he ended up becoming a pastor, but everyone in the church was blue collar, and made their living doing hard work,” Luke said.
So as his Yellowstone gig ends, Luke’s manager suggested collaborating with a brand that felt authentic. With his blue collar roots and new life out west, Luke immediately knew Carhartt was the perfect fit for both his personal brand and even his character Kayce Dutton.
“Even in Yellowstone, starting episode one, I’m wearing a Carhartt vest the entire episode. It’s just part of not only who I really am, and where I come from, but a lot of the characters I ended up playing: salt-of-the-earth, blue collar, a person who goes out and works hard to make their legacy kind of kind of a person,” he explained.